At the Glorious Age of Twenty Four
by Jeline
Summary: Hermione Granger hates messes. At 24 she is thrown into her now chaotic life involving both work and her social life. Unable to adjust, she finds help in someone she never would have expected, learning that life can be messy. Att: Being Revised/Updated.
1. Chapter 1

**Now Revised from Chapters 1-12. 'Cause you know, grammar and continuity are quite important to me. **

**A/N:** Hey guys haven't posted a story in a while, as we know I do not own any characters or basic ideas— that belongs to the great J.K. Rowling. And I must add that I'm a broke college student, therefore, money is not something I have. This is my first attempt at a HP fic. Feedback would be great…as far as the other chapters I hope to make them longer but this was just an intro to what's going to happen. Thanks so much.

_Chapter 1: At the Glorious Age of Twenty-Four_

At the glorious age of twenty-four, I, Hermione Granger can truly say that my life is thoroughly boring. Perhaps I should explain myself a bit more. You see, at the age of twenty-four, I have stumbled upon these three realizations: One, your work cannot simply _be_your life. Two, you cannot hide from the fragmented relationships that you help create—thus the doom of a terrible romance is inevitable and for a while, life ceases to exist. Three, the expectations on yourself and others can be shattered but one must not shun themselves out from the world that betrayed them and live solely on their own.

It is because of these three reasons, my life is blatantly dull. It's not to say that my life was always dull, back in Hogwarts my two best friends and I found loads of things to keep our lives interesting. A yearly adventure, if you will; adventures such as these created physical obstacles and put restraints on our friendship. But of course, we managed through dangerous adventures and adolescence. Harry and Ron were both quite content where their lives were headed.

In the end, Ron and I started out as a couple but quickly realized we were not meant to be a match. Our personalities collided far too much to be conducive for either of our personalities. He's since been on a bumbling road of quite a few interesting relationships but we're closer than ever in our friendship. I know of all his exes it was a girl by the name of Lizzie Shaw whom he loved more than anything else. I rather liked her but Lizzie decided the UK was too small for her and moved to Australia where some relatives lived. Harry and Ginny had dated as well but that quietly ended three years ago although they lived together in a flat near High Street Kensington. Ginny was now seeing Lee Jordan who the best friend of her twin brothers, I loved the girl but dating your brother's best friends was a road to disaster in my opinion.

As far as jobs were concerned both of my best friends went for the career of auror and it was Harry who chose it as a profession, while Ron along with Hogwarts' alumni, Oliver Wood have been coaching the Puddlemere United Quidditch team together for three years now. I, on the other hand, had many career opportunities to consider, not taking one but three N.E.W.T.'s exams, passing all three with flying colors. (The only way I was allowed to, mind you, was with the help of then Professor McGonagall.)

In the end, the profession I chose was to work with the ministry, landing a job as the advisor to the minister. For five long years, (since I held the position) I drowned myself into my work. Recalling the days when Fudge was in office and so many things had gone wrong, I wanted to set the ministry's reputation right. My job was to observe to any threatening situation, no matter how miniscule and if it seemed important enough to be dealt with swiftly—then I was to report to the minister myself. Once that was out of the way I was to see to it that these situations were handled, over the years I have been given more leeway from the minister to deal with cases on my own. It is only when I find the case so severely out of my hand that I will ask for input. It was a system that had worked well for us during my time with the ministry.

By the end of my five year run, the current Minster of Magic, Minerva McGonagall—yes that same McGonagall decided it was time for a change. She'd had me running around with so many threatening situations that one day she sat me down for a one on one "girl chat" as she described it, which truthfully, scared me a little. She was known to be quite professional, and a "girl chat" did not seem very professional.

"Hermione, I am aware that you have worked for me dutifully for five years tackling all sorts of horrid "threatening situations" and I am very grateful for the well executed work that you do because we haven't seen so much peace prior to You-Know-Who being taken out of power." She said her eyes earnest and excited.

"Yes, Minerva—but I do not understand what my work has to do with err—_girl chat_?"

"My point being, that you have dedicated yourself to this job and I feel that you need some recognition and perhaps assistance with the workload," she offered.

"You don't think I can handle the workload?" I said by then my eyes had grown wide.

"No, you misinterpret me. I know you are perfectly capable to handle the workload; it's just that with so many different situations to handle, I'm afraid I haven't left you with a life of your own. You are young; you shouldn't drown yourself in work all the time. I'm offering you the chance to have someone to help you with your duties and work, to work as your equal. Though, I will be honest with you, no one contends with you position, you built it and you earned it."

"I suppose you are right, Minerva. Perhaps I do put too much of myself into work," I said sighing heavily.

"Precisely, with that in mind—I will start holding job applications for the assistant to advisor of the minister, then hopefully, after you teach them how the job is done I can have two advisors, then you can have more holidays and more time to work on specific cases."

Patting my knee, she composed herself and transformed back into her professional self and left me to attend her three o'clock meeting. I couldn't help but sigh heavily, surely she already found out how much of a ruddy time I am having with my social life so she decided to dumb down my workload. This was a month ago. But I'm getting ahead of myself…

My social life had turned into a disaster a year before—well not technically but a string of events started that chartered my way up to my present situation. I had met a man by the name of Jonathan Rowe, at the local wizarding jazz tavern across the street from my flat. I had come in exhausted from my feeble attempt to find out whether or not goblins were conspiring against the wizarding community which I thought was rubbish from the start but could not aquire sufficient evidence to throw it out. He seemed nice enough and bought me a drink…yes Hermione that alone should have told you to stay away.

Jonathan seemed very nice, mildly exciting and very bookish—yes, you would think my perfect match. Unfortunately, our similarities were too much, in fact, that once Jonathan and I became serious, we fought constantly. He thought I poured too much time into my work, while I thought his new hexing experiments were completely rash.

We got engaged after seven months together, though I had a pitfall feeling in my stomach the moment I laid eyes on that rock, I still agreed. Sometimes, I think I must have been under some sort of enchanted effects to reason with why I agreed. I think deep down I felt that with my whirlwind life at the ministry it was hard enough for me to date. I had a string of bad luck after Ron and I broke up. It was even harder for men to date the advisor to the minister. You would think it would be because I have so much power but in fact I'd learned after a few bad blind dates it's usually because they've got some kind of experiment lurking in their basement that the ministry would revoke from them or they have some very shady business deals. By business I mean black market magic, mind you. I still shiver every time I remember that I let Gin drag me to a round of speed dating at the Leaky Cauldron before I met Jon. I'm sorry I'm getting off track, back to my horrible engagement—Harry and Ron were both skeptical but supported me nonetheless and after three more months of dealing with Jonathan's constant bickering; I wanted to call a quits.

What I didn't know was that Jonathan had already done so, to a legal degree. You see, the night Jonathan and I got into a fight (the night before our break-up) he had decided to take his mildly exciting side to a new extreme. He met his ex-girlfriend (also an ex fiancée) for coffee and they had the ludicrous idea of getting married. Three hours later, at some cheep Vegas-style knock off, the two were married…while Jonathan and I had not officially broken up. He had the audacity to say he would come home later, and that we would fix things then! What I found out later…and by later I mean a week and a half later is that two months into our engagement he began cheating on me with that floozy and knocked her up. I'd have a few choice experimental hexes to use on that cheating bastard if I saw him again…and any side effects that he would experience would not be bothersome to me in the slightest.

Obviously, we broke things off when I found out about what he and his now wife, appropriately named Annette Nicole, did the previous night. This caused a sway of my social life because Jonathan and I had many mutual friends whom we shared. Being pained and not wanting to deal with some sort of public confrontation either with him or his new wife, I decided to leave those mutual friends behind. Really, I mean how thick could the great Hermione Granger, one of two best friends to the great Harry Potter who lived to tell the tale of the war against Voldemort not know her bloody fiancée was pure scum.

Of course, I still had Harry and Ron but things are hard when your two best friends run around the damn globe for a living. Ron with his Quidditch and Harry with his auror-seeking adventures; they phoned me everyday and even offered to beat the living snot out of Jonathan but it was no use. My ego had be too severly bruised to do anything about it at first, it's not until now that I'm livid with anger. Most of all, I'm embarrassed and livid at myself for allowing this to happen to me. Quite the fool, really. And so this is how the present situation presents itself, my learning at the age of twenty-four that all the things I had once valued are not as valuable once tarnished.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: At the Present Moment_

At the present moment, my head is throbbing. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind in which the atmosphere I once called my life has changed drastically. My thoughts went directly to work and the new predicaments that seem to be making things more challenging for my life to go on as I would like it to. I was interrupted at work yesterday, Minerva sat me down. She had not begun interviews yet but wanted to narrow down the options.

"Hermione, I have begun taking in applications for the position as your assistant. Yet it has come to my attention that I cannot pick the candidate without your opinion to help me weigh my decision. After all, this person shall be working under you. I cannot assign you someone without your conscent." She said slightly ruffled.

Hearing this pleased me at once; at least I wouldn't receive an assistant who I didn't think was adequate for the position who would cause me to loose my nerve. At least I had some control over the situation. She began to show me some of the candidates that she thought would be more than fitting for the position.

Leafing through more than ninety-five parchments of résumés, we began to narrow down individuals who we thought would fit the job. Some were as flashy enough to send us halo-balls, essentially they are muggle rubber balls, toys that we muggle children play with. Some magical company decided to buy out a particular factory in England that made these things and have charmed it to allow a holographic image to appear of the candidate, some recorded their activities, others memories. In my opinion it was a little too grand and had an air of desperation. Why can't a person's qualifications speak for them?

It had been hours since we leafed through parchment after parchment. I was nursing a few paper cuts along my right hand. It was now it was quite dark outside and we both had more than three cups of tea to keep us going, we were finally down to the last résumé. It caught my attention because the last applicant's name sounded familiar. It seemed that the last applicant was a Cho Chang, whom Harry fancied back in our fourth and fifth year at Hogwarts. I wasn't too convinced as to hire her because it was quite well known that she and her friends were notorious for being unable to keep their mouths shut, thus rumors would spread. Though I couldn't deny that her resume was superb, something in my gut told me hiring her would be a bad move especially for me and my recent social life troubles. I felt my stomach flop.

Minerva couldn't seem happier with Chang's résumé; she was so pleased that we had narrowed down our options to twenty-five candidates worth interviewing. Of course, this was a large number, but considering the amount we started off with, it was good news. It's safe to say only a select handful of those who sent in those wrenched halo-balls were part of this group.

After recounting the day I had in my head, I looked over my mail with Crookshanks, my faithful cat, napping on the sofa arm I decided to phone Harry to let him know about work and the Chang incident.

After two rings, he finally picked up. My guess was that he probably asleep on the couch by the fire again, with a brooming magazine in his hands. Oh the luxury of being an auror…I could relate. It seems that both Harry and I live in our respective work bubbles, not having much of a life outside of our careers.

"Hullo?" he said groggily.

"Hello Harry, I'm sorry for phoning you this late but I needed to tell you something—"

"Whahappened?"

"Cho Chang applied for the position as my assistant at work, I'm afraid McGonagall is impressed and even though she said I have some say as to who my assistant will be, I'm not sure she'll think Chang isn't good enough for the job. And well you know her, she and her friends are known to talk rubbish till no end, I don't know if I'll be able to put up with her nonsense." I said screwing my face up angrily.

"McGonagall said you have a say in the matter, so you shouldn't worry. She appreciates your criticism Hermione, so you should tell her what you think. Besides, how do you know that Cho still hangs out with the same crowd?"

"Please! Harry, she was at Lavender Brown's wedding a month ago, she and her little group of flubberworm friends criticized everything from the cake, to her dress, to the groom's hooked nose!"

"We were at Lavender Brown's wedding, and didn't you, Ron and I agree that his nose was rather hook-like but that he still seemed like a nice bloke?" he retorted.

"Yes, but we didn't criticize everything! Besides we agreed he seemed like a nice person, they just criticize because they are lifeless, jealous twits who walk around thinking they're perfect!"

"Calm down Hermione,"

After twenty minutes of detailed reasons as to why Chang working at the Ministry as _my_assistant was a bad idea, Harry decided to stop supporting me and rather, decided to bring me back to reality.

"All these hypothetical assumptions that you're making of her are just assumptions, maybe McGonagall won't even take her for the job, so stop worrying!" he said.

After a few more minutes of trying to calm me down we hung up. I realized that the clock said 8:45 and decided to take a stroll to calm my nerves…my head was pounding all of a sudden. I've never handled this much stress with such grace, then again when was a Granger known for having grace? Wit—yes, intellect—of course! Grace…not so much. I grabbed my coat and headed outside, carefully leaving Crookshanks asleep on the sofa arm. Walking outside, in the brisk October weather in the middle of the night reminded me of my days back in Hogwarts. Walking on the grounds after curfew under Harry's invisibility cloak was an offense repeated many times over our years there.

I walked along the coffee shop, past the internet café, bus stop and jazz tavern. Then it hit me, jazz tavern! The same place where Jonathan and I first met, I squinted and took a look in, just for my own sake. He wasn't there; I didn't see any signs of long yellow straw-like hair that belonged to his wife, Annette Nicole. I was safe, for another night. For a split second, I thought, why should I avoid this place? I am a grown woman; I should not avoid locations that hold some kind of sentiment to me. With this thought, I walked into the jazz tavern with my head high, found a reasonable table and ordered myself a drink. Normally, I tend to be the glass of wine type of girl but I decided to be reckless tonight, a martini it is! There was music playing over the sound system which was not rare, live acts were sometimes hard to come by.

I had taken to eyeing those around me as a form of entertainment as I sipped my drink, my headache slowly going away. I spotted Rosemary Santos, Minerva's personal secretary, who was sitting across a handsome looking dark-haired man. I'd bring this up with her tomorrow; she looked too engrossed as to what he was saying to her.

Suddenly, it happened, a man with a guitar case flung by me hitting me in the arm with his mighty instrument. I shouted something obscene and he turned over his shoulder slightly enough for me to make out his eyebrow, eye and nose then walked on. There was something familiar about this man's presence but I dismissed it as I rubbed my arm. This I thought was particularly strange, the tavern being a _jazz tavern_ is known to book acts that play that genre of music…what on earth was a man with a guitar doing here? Some mean spirited acoustic performance about how he was glad he hit a brunette woman's arm? I snorted at my own joke. I couldn't be that drunk, I only finished half my drink.

Sure enough, my deductive reasoning proved accurate. He took out his lone guitar and began tuning it, finally giving a nod for the microphone to be turned on. He gave some muffled introduction about the song he was playing; I believe he said the title was "Love is a Verb" which is a strange title for a song. He began strumming his guitar and his voice was oddly relaxing and confident. There was an undertone of sex appeal that ad the majority of the women no longer interested in their dates but instead eyeing the musician like a piece of meat. The lights were dim, you could barely make out his features but I still had the strong sensation I knew who he was. I felt almost entranced with his voice as he sang another round of acoustic driven lyrics. I took a look at my watch and realized that it was almost eleven and I had work in the morning. I finished my drink while he sang another set and was readying myself to leave. It seems that as I was about to leave so was he. I proved quicker hurrying out the door to walk home to my flat.

It seemed that it drizzled while I was in the tavern and I distinctly heard the scuff of older vintage shoes behind me and a case hitting someone's hip. It must have been the lone guitarist; again, I chuckled at my own joke, wrapping my scarf tighter around my neck. I finally reached my flat door, trying to locate my keys in the dark, I fidgeted with my purse. The lone guitarist was walking towards me and I looked up seeing only the same three features again, his nose, eyes, and eyebrows. He had a black winter hat, matching scarf with a long black pea coat. I looked down at his shoes, and sure enough the lone guitarist was wearing worn down trainers that I believe were known as chucks.

I grinned behind my scarf and muffled "Nice shoes," as he walked by me and entered my flat, grateful the lone guitarist proved to be a kind of outlet to all my frustrations. With that I gathered my cat and myself to bed where I dreamt of girls wearing black tee-shirts with the words "Lone Guitarist" on them, the girls screaming with adolescent cries of loving the acoustic-driven performer. I was standing behind them in my usual dressing attire for work, sipping my morning cup of coffee laughing and shaking my head as I passed by him and his adoring fans saying something about his lack of expenditure to buy himself a useful pair of shoes with his fame. I believe I woke up smiling.

My mood the next morning was wonderful. I woke up five minutes early and was able to accomplish so much. Feeding Crookshanks and letting him out while I got ready proved to not be a hassle this morning. I even got to make myself a decent breakfast which was a rarity, I'd normally grab a bagel and run out the door. I even had time to change my usual hair-style which normally consisted of either a bun or a braid. This morning, I decided to go bold, I left my hair down and let it curl with a useful curling charm that Ginny taught me a few years ago. Letting Crookshanks back into my flat, I grabbed my bag and apparated across the street from work which now was a apparating zone. It was sophisticatedly charmed in which witches and wizards used as to not be detected by muggles. Walking into the local coffee shop and purchasing my own elixir of life, I strolled happily into the Ministry.

As I got to my office and questioned Rosemary about the handsome gentleman from the night before, I saw a blush creep along her cheeks. I smiled and reassured her that I was never known to repeat information entrusted to me, and that her dark-haired man would not be discussed anytime soon with anyone at work. She happily thanked me and told me she'd ask him if he had any good looking available friends. I internally cringed. I'm not opposed to dating after the Jonathan fiasco per say, I just don't think my cynicism would make a delightful date. Ron jokes that I would make a grown man cry.

As I walked into Minerva's office greeting her warmly, she looked a little puzzled by my upbeat behavior and I mentioned last night's jazz tavern fiasco with the lone guitarist. After chuckling at my behavior, she smiled warmly and tried to compose herself back to her businesslike manner. She informed me that the two of us would be conducting a few interviews, the first of which was Cho Chang. She had owled Chang last night and she accepted to come in today for an interview. I momentarily felt my stomach lurch. It seemed as if my wonderful day was stopping short.

_A/N: Hey guys, in case you were wondering, the title I used isn't the real title of the song, I think it was an alternate title. In case you want to check it out the song that the "Lone Guitarist" was performing was "Here in My Room" By Incubus._

_-Jeline_.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: Mid-Morning Meltdown_

I had always wondered what it would be like to feel both elated and crushed all at once. I now knew the feeling. Cho Chang's appointment was to take place in the next ten minutes; this meant I had ten minutes to compose myself to become the cool and confident hard-working Hermione. This was not an easy task, trying to slip all traces of Jonathan and my unfortunate love life away from my mind. I fixed my skirt, looked in a small compact mirror I carried in my purse to make sure I looked the part I was about to play.

I began looking over a case I had received yesterday, a group of townspeople attacked by a herd of manticores that supposedly had the dark mark stamped onto their flesh. I didn't think this was anything of real importance, seeing as these creatures did once follow You-Know-Who but my theory was that their violent behavior was a sign of hostility with humans. It was not a post-apocalyptic event in the making but people still reported everything these days after the war. The phrase, "You can never be too careful" died a slow painful death, really.

I heard a knock at my door and looked down at my watch realizing ten minutes had gone by. Smoothing down my skirt one more time, I croaked 'come in', in a semi-confident tone. Cho entered smiling an unidentifiable smile that made me want to cringe. I mirrored her fake gesture and motioned her to sit down. Five minutes within the interview, I felt that I had had enough. Is it too dramatic to say that I wanted to beat her with my paper weight? …probably, Minerva would have my soul taken away from me if I was sent to Azkaban. I shivered at the thought.

Back to Cho…Clearly, her résumé was up to par with what we were looking for and her record was clean and everything seemed in order. I thanked her for coming and told her she would receive a message by owl in a few days. I knew Minerva and I had to dwindle down the list of twenty-five to at least five candidates and then we would both choose the right person together. Knowing this was a team effort on both our parts eased me a little; I had my say in the final outcome which was better than nothing.

The rest of the interviews went relatively smoother. There was an applicant by the name of Ivan Miller who personally captivated me. He was rather smart, smooth and sophisticated by my standards… that is to say that my standards in those respective categories are high. I immediately wanted to tell him he was hired! He was qualified and quite good looking… I hope my libido had no effect on my desire to hire him. Think clearly, Granger!

Knowing that the decision was left up to both Minerva and I, I had to sigh and put him as one of the top applicants of my list. Unfortunately, I had to tell those startling green eyes he had to wait for an owl to find out his fate. I would be lying if I said I wouldn't have appreciated a halo-ball from him with a lovely image of his smiling face and shoulder length hair…and oh no! Perhaps hiring him was not the best of ideas.

By the time I had reached my flat, I was too tired to utter another word from my mouth. So much of my time at work had been spent doing interviews that my work was already behind. I was beginning to look forward to this new assistant because I was now beginning to feel the workload wanting to topple me over. Breathing heavily and looking to the bills that had arrived for the day, I realized I had not called Ron in over three days.

I rummaged through my refrigerator trying to concoct some sort of eatable item for myself as I dialed Ron's number from memory. Stuffing a baby carrot into my mouth I waited for him to pick up on the other line:

"Yello? This is Ron Weasley, I am not available right now but you can leave me a message after the beep and I'll be sure to take your call into consideration (chuckle)…" BEEP.

"Ron, you flubberworm, learn to leave a decent message on your answering machine! Anyway, I wanted to give you a call to see how you were doing. Ring me back when you receive this, or your birthday present will be given to Harry instead…"

Aggravated that Ron hadn't picked up the phone, I sat fuming on my kitchen table eating some leftover fettuccini alfredo from the night before along with a glass of green tea. I contemplated the predicament I was in. I personally wanted Ivan Miller to get the job for aforementioned reasons that were not good. On the other hand, if Cho was hired, there would be a chance that she and I would go head to head eventually. Though, Ivan was good looking and a charmer… that was a dangerous combination in the workplace, especially since I had found him attractive.

I realized that it would be another night that I needed to get out of my flat and do some walking. Changing quickly into jeans and a sweater and some old trainers I used on my lazy days I grabbed my coat and was out the door walking around my neighborhood. I spotted the jazz tavern again and decided to pop in and see if the lone guitarist was there again. I needed to let my frustrations out and he seemed like a good target since Ron never picked up his phone.

Walking in carefully, I found the same table I had sat in the night before and ordered the same drink, looking around. He wasn't anywhere to be found but there was an interesting song playing once I heard the harmony, I couldn't help but continue listening. The song had a country twang to it mixed with some eclectic rock and pop and then the words captivated me: _But I think that maybe the thing that I did wrong was put up with his bullshit for far too long…_

My heart skipped a beat and suddenly all thoughts vanished and Jonathan's face came into misty view within my head. I ran my fingers through my hair and took another long sip from my drink. As my thoughts drifted away into those painful thoughts of my ex-fiancée I was bumped in the elbow with something that sounded somewhat hollow. It was that damned lone guitarist again! Now was my chance to tell him off like I had been hoping for.

"You have got some nerve! Bumping into people and not even having the decency to apologize. I hope you learned some form of manners from your parents!" I snapped at his dark figure.

He finally seemed to hear me and seemed to turn to meet my glace half-way, hiding the rest of his figure away from me almost as if cautious. He looked at me and gave me a half smile, or at least I think that is what it was. He muttered something that sounded almost like a "Sorry," but I wasn't quite sure. I wasn't the least bit satisfied with his reply and arched my eyebrow menacingly at him.

I couldn't help myself with what came out of my mouth next:

"You know, its men like you I have a problem with. You lot—you smug men, who think you're intellectual and too glorious to even give a woman a decent explanation of your actions! Women are not the least bit complicated compared to you men! You—smug, you horrible, you- irresponsible men!" I began to choke up. That song must have affected me more than I let on.

In a sea of emotion I ended up throwing my drink at the lone guitarist and was being escorted out of the jazz tavern on my way out there was a back table seated with two familiar people. Henry and Rose—mutual friends of Jonathan, who looked at me in horror! My sudden outburst would be repeated back to Jonathan…I was beginning to think that this walk was not the best idea.

As I put my coat back on out on the street, tears started to stream down my face. I was publicly embarrassed by… myself. The lone guitarist had no real fault in this situation and unfortunately, the news that Jonathan's ex had a meltdown in the local pub where they always were found was going to circulate but even more embarrassing was that she exchanged a verbal argument with a quiet, acoustic performer at the jazz tavern. I sighed and began to walk around the area once again, trying to push back more helpings of the waterworks. Merlin, I hope this didn't make it to the Daily Prophet…Minerva would probably castrate Jonathan for making her advisor lose her focus. Then again, it wasn't such a bad idea. No Hermione, you've resorted to enough violence for one night.

I wasn't sure how much I had walked around my neighborhood but I was sure that I passed by my flat a good three times. Crookshanks could be heard scratching the windowsill as I passed by. On what seemed like my third attempt at walking past my apartment, I decided I needed to get inside and give Harry a ring.

Looking around in my pockets I realized I couldn't find my keys. My heart sank; I must have left it inside the jazz tavern. I didn't want to go back there and retrieve them, especially with Henry and Rose possibly still inside still whispering remarks about the wreck I looked like. I ran my hand through my hair a second time that night and prepared to walk back into the jazz tavern with shame radiating from within me. I stopped short looking up to see the lone guitarist walking by me with a set of keys jingling in his hand. I leaned against the door to my flat, feeling the cold steel against me.

He walked calmly and with certain smugness to him… I wanted to roll my eyes but realized that this man was possibly carrying my keys with him. He was still wearing his converse shoes that made that noise that is distinctly that scuff from an old vintage shoe, in this case his converse shoes. He walked over to me taking off his scarf so I could finally have a look good look at him. I could see the shape of his nose clearly and his skin which was a soft porcelain color, his lips were thin and then I looked up at his eyes. I realized those eyes looked totally familiar to me. I took a step back from him, my eyes dilating. The face I was staring at was no other than Draco Malfoy.

Draco had given my friends and I hell as we went through our youth in Hogwarts. It's quite an understatement to say that we never reconciled those differences before we went on with our future endeavors. I closed my eyes for a millisecond to make sure this was not some kind of warped dream of mine and when they opened he was still there. He handed me my keys and began to slowly walk past me when he stopped short and whispered, "Nice shoes," as he walked on.

Repeatedly tonight I found myself embarrassed and running my hand through my hair. If I kept this up I'd need to start making a potion to combat female hair loss, I'm sure the stress was starting to show signs on my body. Ron would say I have enough hair to lose and perhaps I'd look normal. In his eyes, it would be an endearing joke… there are reasons why we did not work out. I walked into my flat and decided to skip any phone calls tonight and head straight for my bed. This whole day had to have been concocted from my imagination… my overworked brain must have made this parallel universe out of being overtired. I fell asleep thinking this was the only explanation for it all.

The next morning, I found my legs hurting from all that walking and my trainers on the floor. It hit me; there was no other explanation besides that all the events of the following day had really occurred. Pouring a cup coffee into my yellow mug I slowly showered and dressed myself in a state of shock. Draco Malfoy, who would have thought I would have seen him again after all these years. Since when did he become an acoustic driven performer who had gigs at local jazz taverns? I heard he owned his own company, Emerald Inc. I believe. Since when did he need money to moonlight at as performer?

I apparated to work with this on my mind and when I arrived to my office, Minerva was already waiting for me. She had informed me that Cho was on her list of top five applicants since I had not bothered to come in an hour early as I had promised to evaluate the candidates with her. Taking a risk, and doing something I had never done at work since my employment, I began to let tears stream down my face as I quickly apologized and rapidly explained all of last night to her.

It was more or less a mid-morning meltdown and Minerva hugged me close as I explained the incident with Henry and Rose and even the lone guitarist/Malfoy incident as well. I was hiccupping with puffy, red eyes by the time I had stopped crying and she held up a mug of hot tea to relax me. She preformed a quick charm to get me looking normal again and firmly gripped my hand and said the following:

"My dear, we go through many trials and tribulations within our lifetimes. Sometimes we want to get away from everything that plagues us and escape a past we'd rather was never a part of our existence. The solution to it all is to accept all these things, the pros and cons and realize that they are a part of life and should rather be embraced and not shunned away. You will find your niche; you will find something better but just keep in mind that all these events culminate to that one moment where the real good thing will come into your life." With that she smiled at me once more and left me in my office to contemplate her words.

I took a sip of tea as I closed my eyes and took in all she had just said to me.

_**A/N:**__ The information to the song that I had up in this chapter is "Cigarettes" By: The Wreckers ((Michelle Branch & Jessica Harp side project))… I thought the line was perfect for the mood our main character was in and don't worry I don't intend to reference a song in every chapter._

_-Jeline._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Let's begin with I own nothing except the words I've strung together and the humor that you may or may not find endearing. ;)

_Chapter 4: My Enemy's Enemy is my Friend_

It had been three days since the mid-morning meltdown in the presence of Minerva and I still turned scarlet every time she would give me a sympathetic smile. She had sent out owls to all those seeking the position as my assistant, informing them that unfortunately the process was being delayed due to massive amounts of paperwork and cases needing to be dealt with. This gave us three days to carefully consider our five candidates.

In all, the five remaining candidates for the position were as follows:

Cho Chang

Ivan Miller

Natalia Abelardo

Kieran Kraja

Jenna Brown

Personally, my favorites were Ivan Miller (I believe I have stated my reasoning for this) and Kieran Kraja who was at the top at his class at an American wizarding school on the East Coast somewhere. Natalia Abelardo was my next choice, she seemed very collected and easy to get along with, and she also spoke four languages which would help me tremendously. The top five were all wonderful candidates, and yes, I must even include Cho in this because she had a greater knowledge of ministry politics which again, would serve me greatly. Jenna Brown came from a school out in New Zealand but she didn't seem as collected as the rest, she seemed to be very dramatic and a little too carefree for this ambiance.

I was sitting curled on my couch with Crookshanks lazily purring on my lap as I looked over all five of the files. Crookshanks lay against the cool windowsill which gave rise to a starry silhouette of London's glory which took me aback every time I gazed at it. Malfoy, or the 'lone guitarist' was no where near my worries, I had decided to stop going to the jazz tavern to not have my ego bruised again. I had also stayed away from that street altogether in case any more of Jonathan's friends decided to drop by the tavern to see if they'd spot me. I began considering moving out of my flat to somewhere new. A new neighborhood where I wouldn't have to clash with my past and start out as a new and less neurotic Hermione… a change in atmosphere was what Harry and Ron both agreed would be best for me. Though, they didn't think a change in atmosphere would make me any less neurotic.

I had begun leafing through the Daily Prophet for cozy flats the same day of my mid-morning meltdown and to my surprise found one located right in High Street Kensington, where the neighborhood was beautiful and quite selective. I was sure I could afford such a place with my salary. Considering I had been saving up money for a move like this since I first was hired.

Ron and Harry's mouths went agape when I told them of my discovery of the lone guitarist's true identity. The boys took the night off when they heard me balling on the other line of the receiver and came to my rescue… making me change out of my sweats and into something worthy to wear to a pub. I think part of Ron's drink fell onto his sweater when his mouth went wide open from the shock of Malfoy's capability to do anything artistic. We opted for the Leaky Cauldron on the night of my meltdown, nothing even remotely close to a jazz tavern would be acceptable. They were so sympathetic they bought three rounds of drinks and even took me for ice cream that same night to make me feel better. According to Harry, ice cream can solve all of life's problems, including my meeting with Malfoy.

Harry had promised to see if he could find out what Malfoy had been up to for all these years. Being an auror, he could access things like this for me. I, who also held a capability to find something like this out chose not to, seeing as how Minerva knew this whole ordeal already.

Dropping the files onto the floor as I giggled madly thinking of the reaction on Ron's face at the pub and the way his drink spilled onto his sweater. I was getting away from my objective; I picked up the files and looked them over. I had decided that very afternoon that if Cho got the position I would do everything in my power not to care. If that plan backfired then I would stuff myself silly with ice cream to help my problem go away, though I know well enough Harry's theory was ludicrous.

Crookshanks came over and licked my hand; I nodded knowing he was hungry. I walked into my kitchen and looked for his cat food when I realized I had forgotten to buy his food. Apparently, leaving mental notes in my head was no longer working for me. Groaning, I hauled my coat and scarf and looked for my old trainers to walk two blocks to the store which was still open now at a quarter to nine.

I hurried out of my flat and towards the store also remembering I was out of milk and was in desperate need in for another bottle of shampoo. I cursed myself for being able to remember cases, investigations and reports but not items I needed at home. Finally walking into the store and down the isles that were arranged by their generic uses I found the isle containing pet food. Scanning the brands with faces of happy fat cats plastered on the covering, I thought about idiotic ways advertisers tried to make a sale. Finding the correct brand and flavor, I heaved the bag into a cart and made my way to the isle filled with hair products. Now scanning for my shampoo I heard a fake and feminine giggle coming from the isle next to me. I tried peering over to see the culprit knowing that sound from a mile away. Sure enough as I peered over I saw a stalk of bleach blond locks and almost maroon colored lipstick.

I gasped silently; it was Annette Nicole and Jonathan in the other isle. I could not believe this! All week I had been dealing with constant misfortunes. Here I had thought seeing Henry and Rose was the worst of my troubles and an isle away was my ex-fiancée and his bleach blond busty wife who was expecting child! I was fuming as I grabbed the bottle of shampoo and looked for a way out of the store. I heard her giggle coming closer to me and with unknown agility I never knew I possessed, I grabbed the nearest box of hair dye and pretended to be engrossed in the specific shade and the millions of herbal extracts that made it "healthier" for my locks.

They were out of view and now I just had to find my way to the milk and pay my three items and run safely back to my flat where Crookshanks would await me with a large appetite. I peered around once more as I sprinted to the refrigerated section where the milk was stored. As I was about to claim a victory, I slammed into something dark, hard with a masculine scent. It hit me; I had just bumped into someone. I rolled my eyes as I tore myself off this poor man.

Looking up to him to begin to formulate an apology, I couldn't help but grit my teeth when I saw who he was. Malfoy! Again! What the hell was he doing in my neighborhood again? I highly doubted a Draco Malfoy would even consider living on this side of town… a lone mansion was no where nearby. I closed my eyes to collect my thoughts before I would do the unthinkable and use physical violence against this man. Before I could finish this thought, I heard the fake giggle and my eyes dilated wider than humanly possible.

Malfoy grinned, clearly enjoying my inner-struggle and my loathing every minute I was in this infernal store. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him as the two walked into our isle, acting as if we had been embracing. I could smell sandalwood and I briefly wondered if that was his natural scent or cologne of some sort. Men shouldn't smell that good naturally. You hate the man, remember Hermione. Right. I contemplated hitting him in the jewels and running but decided to watch this play out, I didn't need to be kicked out of another business in my neighborhood.

Jonathan and Annette Nicole stopped short, realizing who I was. Jonathan was fixing his glasses and Annette Nicole giggled her fake and feminine laugh that made me cringe, unconsciously making a fist with the hand Malfoy had grasped.

Malfoy grinned and spoke for the first time that evening.

"Hello Jonathan," he said smugly.

"Malfoy," Jonathan answered back with a flicker of anger in his tone.

For the meantime, I was safe from view…being held captive in Malfoy's arms kept me safe from being recognized. For a second, I thanked the powers that be for Malfoy and keeping my identity safe from my ex and his bleach blond wife. I also thanked the powers that be that I decided to wear my hair straight today, another bold Hermione move…my trademark curls would not make me an easy target to spot tonight. At the same moment, Malfoy's hand moved from my wrist to my hand and he clutched it. Ah, I was beginning to see the picture; he wanted me to play along. I mentally grinned as I complied and pretended to be engrossed and loving in his arms. It really wasn't too hard, I could only move in closer to him. Yes, there was sense of inner-loathing from the part of me who was still a teenage and awkward Hermione. Here I was in the embrace of the boy, uh, man who used to make fun of me till he ran out of snide remarks (which was rare).

The other part of me was quite content. I knew that Jonathan never liked Malfoy, in fact, I remember he would cringe every time I mentioned his name when having a flashback of life at Hogwarts. I smiled to myself, this would be interesting. I slowly turned around pretending to look lovingly into Malfoy's eyes. The look on Jonathan's face was even more hysterical than that of Ron's.

"Hello John," I said, making sure to be very close to Malfoy.

"Her—Hermione?" He managed to stutter.

"I see you've met Draco,"

"Oh darling, do introduce us properly," Malfoy said grinning maliciously.

"You're right, I'm so rude. Jonathan, meet my…"

"Fiancée," Malfoy interjected.

He had put a ring on my finger without my knowledge. He must have slipped it in when I first took his hand. As I looked at my hand I tried to not look surprised. The size of the rock was larger than the massive pendant my grandmother used to wear. I smiled and braced myself for what I was about to do, I kissed Malfoy on the cheek lightly and continued to fake that loving gaze. Meanwhile, Jonathan looked like he was about to hurl, his wife looked on curiously apparently not getting the picture. I tried to stifle a laugh and failed horribly.

"Fiancée, Hermione, we just broke up a month ago, you can't be engaged to this lunatic? It's ridiculous, its impossible, and its insanity!" Jonathan sputtered.

"Yes, much like your sudden marriage, Jonathan." I said coolly.

"Well, let's not upset the other customers. Darling, get what you need and we'll be going then," Malfoy said.

With that, I triumphantly seized the milk and walked with his hand in mine and toward the check out line. Continuing our act, Malfoy paid for my items and walked out of the store with me until we had crossed the street safely and out of view. He finally let go and looked at me with one arched eyebrow.

"YOU dated that loser? Come now, Granger… I would think you could do better!" he said eyeing my expression.

"Yes, well after a few drinks he didn't look half bad. Impaired judgment I'm afraid. How did you know I was running from him?"

"I heard some rumor that you had dated the fellow after you threw that drink on me the other night at the jazz tavern." He replied lazily.

"How the hell did you know where I was?" I asked quizzically.

He put his hand in my coat pocket and before I could utter another word he pulled out a button. To say he had a sly look on his face would be an understatement.

"You charmed a button to track me?"

"I've learned many things of muggle devices this is a magical GPS if you will. Quite helpful, really."

"You've been following me? And here I was thinking I should apologize for my behavior the other night but you've made it quite easy for me to rebuke that!" I seethed.

He narrowed his eyes, I wasn't sure if he was serious or joking. Was he capable of such a thing? "Enemy's don't apologize to one another, Granger. You know that."

"Yes well, wait! Why do you hate Jonathan? I'm sure it's not for the same reason as mine."

"The idiot worked for me years ago. You've heard of Emerald Inc.—I started out that company independently, the sodder took millions from my company. How do you think he's been able to keep his foolish independent work and still have a cushiony lifestyle? I fired him yet all traces of what he stole vanished and could not lock him up in Azkaban for it."

I had to blink a few times to really grasp what I had just heard. My ex-fiancée was a con artist on top of a liar and a cheater. _Oh you do know how to pick them, Hermione._

"So you took an opportunity when you saw it and wanted to get back at him?"

"My, Granger…what happened to that wit of yours? I thought you were one step ahead of the game but it seems not. Don't you see that my meeting you again after all these years is not coincidence? You're ex stole millions from my company… I'm willing to get back at him and since you; someone from my past also would want revenge… I would imagine we could work together to accomplish that task, wouldn't you agree?" he said smoothly.

"So you've been FOLLOWING ME? I yelled coming to the door of my flat.

"Naturally, I needed to see if you were angry enough at the man to seek revenge. After you threw that drink at me and exploded, I knew you were."

"You haven't changed a bit, Malfoy… still interested in revenge and seeking to overthrow whoever tries to burst the perfect bubble that is your life." I snarled.

"I am making you a proposition, Granger. Help me take down the man who put us both to shame. The first step has already been planted, that ring on your finger means that everyone in London will think that you and I are an item by tomorrow morning. I propose that you move in with me at my home, to make everyone think that we are together. Next, through your relationship with Jonathan we can move in, find out things about him, most importantly where he's hid my money and what other sorrid things he's been doing. Together we can ruin him. What woman would like to find out that her fiancée left her for some bleach blond bimbo (who's actually procreated, might I add) and who can't even string a coherent sentence together?"

"You can't possibly be serious?" I said my mouth agape, much like Ron's.

"My enemy's enemy is my friend, Granger. Remember that…" he said taking my keys and opening my door for me and then leaving me alone with a heavy bag of cat food and an open mouth. Either my sanity in itself is unraveling or my world is being turned upside down. Merlin, it has to be a little of both.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5: The Empty Threat and Horrid Penmanship_

Entering my flat after my odd encounter with my ex and his pregnant wife, and let's not forget Malfoy… I had an odd sensation that this was to be another messy turning point in my life. Not only did I just lie to my ex about a relationship with the person who I loathed back in Hogwarts, I now led him to believe I was engaged to the fool. Smacking myself in the forehead for my idiocy I realized I needed counseling, fast! I made the wise decision to apparate to Harry's hotel room in Bulgaria where he was chasing some crazed fool who thought he was the re-incarnation of You-Know-Who. Harry and the rest of his team had just caught him and decided to celebrate by taking a few days off and get to know Bulgaria. I was in desperate need of someone who was less neurotic than I to talk some sense into what had just occurred. Forgetting to feed my poor cat, I found myself grumbling in the dark of Harry's hotel room looking at the mess he had created.

This was just like Harry, messy and unorganized. A part of me wanted to start cleaning up and tidying the room but I held back and instead poked his snoring figure. He jolted upright ready to point his wand at me when I muttered 'Lumos,' holding my wand steadily so he could piece together who I was. He looked up at me and muttered something that sounded like my name and lay back down on his bed. I proceeded to poke him restlessly making puppy dog eyes so he'd get up.

He finally complied, finally standing and fidgeting with his glasses to put them on. I looked up and saw he was not wearing a shirt. I raised my eyebrow and threw him a t-shirt that was on the floor. He said something that sounded like 'Thanks,' and I stifled a laugh… he was a complete mess, much like myself. It was oddly comforting, really.

"What's going on, Hermione? Why'd you apparate to Bulgaria, to my hotel room, in the middle of the night?" He said yawning.

"We have a problem… well actually; we have quite a few problems."

"Quit being cryptic and tell me what is going on, perhaps I can get some sleep tonight…"

I proceeded to tell him everything from my day at work to the incident in the grocery store. There was a visible sign of shock underneath his sleepy exterior and he began laughing once I was done with my story. In fact, he was not just laughing but chuckling 'til tears came out, I was fuming. I did not see my predicament in any way humorous. It was almost as if it was a private joke between Harry and well, Harry.

"So the twit, Malfoy has cost you the trouble of lying and now he wants to create some false couple scenario between the two of you? Are you sure he wasn't sent to St. Mungo's for awhile… I'm sure there's some sort of insanity drawing on this whole mess…"

"Yes, well I managed to ask around and poke into his file at work today, nothing suggests any mental illness… this is horrible! He can't possibly be serious? Can he?"

"Or perhaps he hit his head on something… maybe some spell or potion went awry… or he got high off some muggle narcotics." Harry suggested, stifling a laugh.

"My life is not some sort of amusing television drama, Harry! What am I going to do? He's right, by tomorrow morning everyone will think this HUGE rock on my finger means the two of us are engaged, he planned this; you know it. I smell one of Malfoy's dirty schemes coming into play."

"Well, here's a thought. Go along with it, personally, I think you should get back at Jonathan whatever the price, Hermione. You can't fool me pretending that you never loved him… Ron and I both know you did. We can be idiots at times, we know that but when it comes to you and your happiness—we just know. The bastard hurt you. He meant more to you than Malfoy ever did…"

"Well, I must admit that I did love him… but it didn't feel right when he proposed. That alone should have told me to run away." I said.

"You were blinded by love—of course Malfoy has something up his sleeve. You just stay aware of it all and try to keep up one step ahead of him, besides you have Ron and me here. If anything, we'll just beat the snot out of him like we did to Jonathan." He suggested.

"You WHAT?"

"It's getting late Hermione, you should get going… I'm sure Crookshanks is hungry and I need to get some sleep. We'll talk later," he said, shoving me towards the middle of the room to apparate.

As I settled into my couch after feeding my poor cat, I realized Harry had a point. Of course Malfoy had something up his sleeve, what I had to do was find out what it was before getting myself into this proposition of his. Now all I had to do was do some digging which wouldn't be so difficult and perhaps it would lead me to answers.

Malfoy could have lied about Jonathan and his working for his company. But why would he lie about something that big? Accusing someone of steeling millions from you is not the same as lying about taking a cookie from the cookie jar, as children often do. My head was spinning from all this information and talk of what I should do. I resolved to get some sleep and figure out my next move in the morning after some real information was given to me. As all these thoughts swarmed in my head, my eyes became heavy with sleep and I ended falling asleep on my sofa with Crookshanks nestled by my feet.

The following morning I awoke thinking I was late for work, as I hurried to find my black pumps when I realized it was Saturday. I sighed feeling relieved and found my way into my bed… my neck was sore from sleeping on the sofa the night before. As I stumbled onto my bed I felt something underneath me. Pulling it out, I realized there was a letter addressed to me. I quickly opened it, not recognizing the handwriting.

It read:

_Granger,_

_I have taken the liberty of drawing up my proposal in writing to express the plan more in depth. I didn't want our encounter to seem too suspicious last night in case those two idiots decided to follow us to your flat._

_I take it that you have questions about our encounters and how I came to this plan and your involvement. I also realize that trust is an issue so I won't give you a bloody phrase that calls for your trust on my word. Instead, I will tell you this: You and I have been known rivals since our days at Hogwarts. I choose you not only because of your history with Jonathan Rowe but because of your position within the ministry, you could find out his whereabouts during the years as well as help me persuade McGonagall to place him on trial and find him guilty. With enough digging you will come to realize that what I have told you is not a lie, that Rowe is not the kind of man you believed him to be. I leave you to ponder with that._

_Meet me Monday night at eight o'clock outside the Jazz Tavern to discuss this at length. Remember Granger, my enemy's enemy is my friend._

_Draco Malfoy_

I crumbled up the letter and took a deep breath. There was no work for me to engross myself in, for it was Saturday. This meant I still had time to elude the rumor of Malfoy and myself being a couple until Monday morning, I sighed with an undeniable relief… Damn, damn, this stupid encounter with Malfoy. I thought things were complicated enough with the whole Jonathan Rowe scenario that had taken place a month before but now this was making my life seem worthy of it's own television drama.

Resolving that sleep would not come to me after reading the letter I made my way to my kitchen to concoct a large cup of coffee. It was calling me with a 'come hither' voice, sounding much better than anything had since last night. After two well deserved cups of steaming coffee and some toast I decided it was best to look into this matter and still research what I could about this feud between Jonathan and Malfoy. Making my way into my empty office I decided to look up some Ministry files on both of these men who have caused nothing but trouble for me. Afterward, realizing that two huge stacks of documents and files were too much for my small person, I called Harry and Ron to be my personal assistants. Of course, both whined and complained for the first fifteen minutes and told me I had "better make it worthwhile," which I agreed to. Yes, I apparated a few pitchers of beer and some Chinese food to make the two whining children happy.

After two hours of searching we found something, within Jonathan's previous employers one of them was a matter of fact Malfoy's company, Emerald Inc. He was let go for unknown reasons, knowing Malfoy, he wouldn't want a scandal on his hands so he would keep his reasons for firing Jonathan as hushed as possible. Still, the pieces didn't add up…

Scoping up all the files, thanks to the help of my two whiny assistants we took them all back to my flat. The stacks of never-ending files found their way to the dingy table in the corner of my flat. I recall that I bought the monstrous thing with Jonathan on one of our first dates. I wouldn't give a damn if the files would make the horrid thing collapse. Actually, I might care slightly, considering the table was crucial to keeping those files in mint condition for when I'd return them.

Harry was attempting to use a keyword spell he had found in Snape's office in our sixth year by accident to narrow down whatever documents I would actually take the trouble of looking through. Ron meanwhile busied himself by feeding my cat and making a steaming pot of coffee. It turned out that the keyword spell only discarded about 30 files, which was nothing compared to the many files we still had left over. The boys camped out at my flat each taking a couch. By four A.M. I found nothing substantial except that Jonathan had been arrested by muggle authorities for theft when he was nineteen and this was added to his file in the wizarding world. I had also found out that Jonathan was quite good with hexes (that I already knew) but that he had won an award during his stay at Breckonsville, a small wizarding school in Scotland. Much of his family still resided in Scotland and it was the reason we'd never met at Hogwarts, it was his proverbial destiny to attend Breckonsville, he told me once. It made me wonder if it was here that he started along his shady destiny that led him to where he is now. A bookish sodder who delves in criminal activity.

I was now presently the only one awake, as the boys were snoring away probably each respectively dreaming of their personal famous pin-up girl who somehow morphed to the girl of their dreams. I realized I never responded back to Malfoy's letter. I knew the man was not anxiously awaiting my response by the fire at four in the morning, sitting in his study by the fire drinking a glass of brandy. Snap out of it Hermione, you are going way too much into detail about the nature of this man's _activities_ at four in the morning. Oh, _activities_, well I suppose he could be doing that too… Oh no! Now I need a drink. Or, more adequately, a bloody toilet to hurl my half processed food into!

Grabbing the nearest pen and paper available to me, I decided to make a split decision and either refuse or accept his offer. So logically, yes it was four in the morning and I might wake him. Yet, it would give me great pleasure to think that I'd awake the man out of whatever _activity_ he was taking part in.

I quickly jotted down the following in semi-legible handwriting:

Malfoy,

I accept. I warn you, if you are trying to pull something—don't hesitate to think that I already have a plan of my own to ruin you.

-Hermione Granger.

I realized it was an empty threat but I had nothing better to say. He would probably realize this when he read it but I need to keep whatever visible ground I have, no matter how fictional it is. Looking around I realized I had no owl of my own. Thankfully, Ron's own owl, Pig had come earlier that evening with a letter from his mother and was currently perched atop my coat rack, quite asleep; this was an extreme rarity for the little creature. I gently poked the miniature thing and tied the note to his leg and he flew off. Well, as far as split decisions went, this particular one was at the top of my list. Perhaps I made the wrong decision but I wouldn't go back on my word, and quite frankly, I was relieved that I chose. Perhaps I wanted to make that specific decision all along; Jonathan deserved some pain—especially after what he did to me.

After resolving that a hot shower would be best, and second best would be a cup of 'decaffeinated' coffee, I slipped into my bed. By now more than half an hour passed and I hoped to sleep through the next few hours of daylight. As I nestled in, I felt something hit my head. Pig was perched atop my headboard and seemed to think it amusing to drop the letter on my head right when I was calling for sleep. I grudgingly reached for my wand and whispered 'Lumos' and tore the letter open.

It read:

_Why Granger,_

_I don't want to know what you're doing up at this time—I gather you're not alone…. Or maybe you are. I trust whatever you are up to during this time remains to be part of your own accord and personal life. I am glad you accepted and must say, highly believed you would. I will see you at the tavern on Monday, then. By the way, Granger… you're penmanship is horrid._

_Draco Malfoy._

I crumbled the letter, cut my source of light and stroked Pig a few times as a thank you and attempted to get some sleep. I would not let his childish comments disrupt my need of sleep. I'd deal with him in the morning, post-daylight.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**__ Again, I don't own. This revision is taking much longer than I bargained for. So many details I forgot to tie up and so many instances where I could polish up my writing. Damn my English major tendencies. ;)_

_Chapter 6: Monday Morning Blues_

I woke up the following morning, slightly infuriated because even in my dreams I could not get away from the two annoying men in my life (No, not Ron and Harry)… but those other two twits that I would classify under 'waste-of-a-man' in bold print. Groaning and padding into my kitchen to start the blessed coffee maker, I realized there was a pair of snores coming from my living room. They were oddly almost in sync; the two distinct snores sounded like a bizarre bodily orchestra. Giggling, I realized it was the other two moronic men in my life that I wouldn't trade for the world. Though, I don't think I should ever tell them that because I fear their egos might swell up to that of Malfoy's. Uh, Malfoy…

I couldn't help but groan inwardly as I remembered my split-second decision from the night before. Before I could think of swearing inwardly at myself, I smelled the faint aroma of coffee and skipped into my kitchen for a steaming cup of life. This woke up my two musically talented best friends who were currently stretching out and cracking unknown bones inside their bodies.

"Bloody hell, 'Mione that couch is damn near uncomfortable." Ron muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Serves you right for falling asleep on the couch Ronald," I began. "I offered you both the guest room before you fell asleep last night. I even tried to wake you both but you were far too engrossed in your dreams of who knows what because you both had identical smirks on your faces by three in the morning. Merlin, what will I ever do with you two?" I teased.

"Well I don't know what he was dreaming about but I was dreaming about my last trip to Italy. I was dreaming about eating Tiramisu at that little Bistro I met Bella, that long legged Italian beauty…" Harry said smiling to himself.

"Do us a favor and don't tell us more. I don't need another complaint from my neighbors. Last week the Ryan's five year old daughter Jenny, heard my conversation on the phone with Ginny and let's just say it wasn't appropriate for her ears." I said trying very hard not to blush.

"Both of you shut up, I don't want to hurl before breakfast!" Ron said making a gagging face while Harry and I laughed.

After a long and lounging breakfast in which Ron decided to cook, we leafed through the files again. I should add that he is an excellent cook by the way; I suppose that tends to happen after you date a chef. …that is another story.

I am getting away from myself, yes. We made a 'dent' in the files, as I'd heard Kieran say during his interview in his rather thick American accent. We soon had amassed more evidence towards Malfoy's case. It seems that my split second decision was turning out to be the right one, er, at least I'd hope it is.

It seems that Jonathan had amassed a good deal of financial woes in recent years after trying helplessly to get money to go towards his endless experiments to create more powerful and useful spells and hexes. He was closely working with some powerful companies to try to ensure their economic security. Among these, he was working for Malfoy's company to try to create one such spell that would steadily radiate the flow of income for his company, to then be directly deposited safely into various back up accounts instead of massing everything into one large account that could possibly be stolen from Gringots. ..this has especially become so in recent years in which it seems that the banking system has just becoming too outdated for the new advancements with technology that have even seemed to take on the wizarding world. It seemed that Malfoy was trying to secure his company's financial stability for the long run and he did not want to come across anyone trying to take his millions away. Typical rich brat.

Part of me wanted to blame this on his greed but another part of me believed that he truly did not want to have his company to go under. It was a well known fact that after his father was taken to Azkaban, Malfoy was inherently stubborn enough to create his own wealth and fortune. His mother tragically was taken into St. Mungo's for a short while after her husband's subsequent arrest but now resided in an estate the Malfoy's had near Bath. There it was rumored she lived a quiet life with a few house elves to keep her company and refused to see her son after feeling that he did not do enough to keep his father out of Azkaban or try anything to get him out. It was no secret Draco Malfoy loathed his father and both loved and pitied his mother. I'll take my neurotic muggle parents who are grade A dentists over that heap of a family. Imagine the emotional baggage alone!

As for Malfoy's career, after leaving Hogwarts he worked for various successful wizarding companies and finally settled on creating his own. The key of Emerald Inc. was its ability to appeal to both masses—the wizarding community and the muggle community as well. Malfoy's company sold products for both and in a few recent years became this expansive company both in Europe and was now going international including the United States and Asia.

I couldn't help myself by being impressed looking into the data that Emerald Inc. provides the ministry with every year. Minerva and I had decided to keep a close eye on all affairs concerning businesses and important and powerful figures within our world. We figured if we would have kept better tabs on those with power during the years You-Know-Who was around, perhaps we would have had a more unified wizarding community. Just think, how many supporters he would have lost if the ministry didn't anger so many wizards with their outdated rulings and unfair politics. Thus, every year every large company had to submit their data to the ministry, their earnings for the year and their expenses. This allowed us to have a close relationship with businesses and especially those in power.

I sighed as I closed yet another file containing economic jargon. I couldn't help but yawn and see the boys had returned from their respective flats after showering and changing to help me seeing as how I was knee deep in files.

"You know 'Mione, this isn't the best way to spend your weekends." Ron gathered as he took a bite out of a green apple resting his legs on top of mine as we sat on the couch.

"It's better than her frequenting that bloody jazz bar again," Harry said wisely.

I bit my lip and handed them both a file as I tried to not allow my lower lip tug into a frown. I knew that they were just trying to help but sometimes they could be so dense. Honestly, my cousin Charlotte always joked that men were from Mars and women were from Venus but it was quite apparent the joke had some truth in this particular moment.

"So have you decided what you're going to tell Malfoy about his offer?" Harry asked a few minutes later.

I couldn't help but knit my eyebrows in both pain and annoyance when he asked that question. I found myself slightly reluctant to answer knowing the two might blow up when I would tell them that I actually already had made up my mind and told said enemy my answer.

"Well, actually… I have already made up my mind and given him my answer."

I looked round and saw Ron look like he was about to throw the files in his hands up in the air wanting to scream, _Then why the hell am I sitting round here for?_

Harry on the other hand sighed loudly and made the move to clean his glasses with a spell he knew. Knowing Harry, he already had deduced my answer. I could not help but gulp loudly only presuming what I would hear next.

"Then I suppose you've accepted his offer and will move in with him shortly." Harry said in an objective and emotionless tone. He usually did that when he tried to reserve his own opinion and not let it cloud his judgment or perfectly fitting advice on whatever he would say next. I noticed he did that a lot on the job with his team of aurors.

I could only nod and pull the files away from Ron's hands that were still in shock and trying to process the answer I had given Malfoy. I'm not certain what was wrong with these two. Not long ago they were agreeing with the idea that I should go along with Malfoy and his plot to expose Jonathan but now it seemed like they were thinking otherwise. I felt the anger rush to my cheeks.

"Well, you two seemed to think it was a pretty good idea earlier. I don't know why you're backing out of that now." I spat.

"I guess we thought you would include us in the decision." Ron said, finally speaking and shrugging his shoulders heavily.

It was then that I realized that I had hurt them somehow by not including them in my decision at four in the morning. I couldn't help but feel guilty and pulled each of them into a hug. These two infuriating and immature men were my best friends and regardless of how much they mirrored boys instead of men, they only had my best interest at heart.

Later that night after making it up to them by letting me buy a few rounds at the local Pub they left happily to their flats talking about how they had exchanged numbers with two pretty brunettes at the pub that night. I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh at how a few beers and girls phone numbers later, they were back to being happy and childish.

My Sunday was also uneventful. I spent my day in with Crookshanks, reading a novel I had been meaning to finish a few weeks beforehand. I got some work done that I had still needed to finish up after leaving the office Friday night. I took the opportunity to get some shopping done later in the day.

Opting to get some more winter-friendly wardrobe I walked into the local retail store that I tended to venture into from time to time. Finding a red turtleneck sweater that clung to my curves rather well as well as a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, I felt I could splurge some more on myself seeing as how I had a terrible week. I decided it was time for some new work related wardrobe as well. Finding a satin crimson blouse with a small black cardigan and a pair of black striped dress pants I felt much better about my weekend and felt it had been much more productive than I had hoped for.

When I returned to my flat after my shopping spree of sorts I found a letter from Minerva addressed to me on top of my couch. She had written to tell me that she decided that she didn't think Jenna Brown would make the cut, cutting down our candidates to four.

There was also a note from Malfoy that read:

_Granger,_

_The news has spread all over London and has hit the Daily Prophet. The greater part of the country thinks that we are engaged and considering you have accepted my offer, I suggest you prepare to play the part. Send me an owl as soon as you get this._

_-Malfoy._

I was really glad of the way I had spent the latter half of my day and did not want to dampen my Sunday by replying to Malfoy. I knew I would see him the following day for our meeting outside the tavern. Surly, the man could wait till then to hear from me. I sighed, fed my cat and went to bed finally getting some peaceful sleep that night.

Walking into work the following morning wearing the new work related outfit I had bought myself, I couldn't help but feel a little bounce in my step as I headed for my office with my steaming cup of coffee in my hand and various files tucked under my left arm.

What I wasn't prepared for was the sight I saw as I walked into my office that almost made me spill my hot cup of life on myself and all over my new outfit.

Malfoy was sitting in on my desk conversing with Cho Chang who apparently had an early appointment to come see me, something Minerva must have forgotten to mention to me the night before in the letter she sent. I couldn't help the deer in the headlights expression that was coming from my eyes or the groan that escaped my lips when I saw the sight of the two of them conversing in my office.

Malfoy saw me first and got up to take the files from my left arm and placed a placid kiss on my cheek. I tried to gather myself enough to not kick them out of my office and call Harry and Ron to settle this the best way they saw fit, which I would most definitely include some sort of violence.

"Darling, I just stopped by to see how you were doing. You never owled me back last night," he said with a twinkle in his eye. He was rather enjoying this far too much.

"Yes…er, love. I'm sorry I never responded last night but I was far too tired after I came home. You see, I went shopping for some new work attire," I said smiling sweetly at him.

Cho meanwhile was far beyond shocked and began to form a smirk on her face. I placidly continued to eye my fiancée… er, Malfoy as he put his hand to rest at the small of my back and pulled me into a kiss. Tantalizingly slow at first but then he gained his ego back and seemed to have gotten comfortable with both my lips and my tongue.

Granted, I did not see that coming and did not think by his letter last night he meant to prepare for that exactly. Part of me wanted to slap him senseless for even breathing the same air as me but I had to remind myself that I made this agreement for a reason and that I was a woman of my word. Regardless of how much I wanted to hurl my guts out afterwards.

"Mmm.. you taste like coffee and minted lip gloss." He said giving me a kiss on the cheek and saying he would see me later.

I just stood there, dumbfounded and annoyed. Well, fuming actually because Cho would not get that smirk off her bloody face. What was her problem?

"Well Ms. Chang," I finally found myself saying. "Please take a seat so we can further discuss you're resume."

I couldn't wait to call Harry and Ron after this pesky woman left my office.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7: Of Fake and Real Commitments**_

I took a deep long breath as I got my bearings in order to try to identify my reason for interviewing Cho Chang so early in the morning… trying not to think of that unreasonably theatrical display of 'affection' between my fake fiancée and I. I was a woman with a job to do and I would be as professional as possible. Yet, I couldn't wait until she left. I needed my best friends more than ever at the moment.

"Ms. Chang, I'm afraid that the Minister did not inform me of your appointment this morning. I must admit that I am a little confused by our appointment but can assure you that I will do all I can to make your time with me not go to waste." I said diplomatically.

"Thank you, Ms. Granger." She responded giving me what looked to be both a mixture of a shy and sly smile. I can honestly say it gave me the willies and I am not easily afraid. I wondered briefly if she had a split personality disorder or was under some kind of spell or hex.

"Now, your resume suggests that you've worked the political circuit for the ministry for quite sometime. I see that you were in part leading the campaign for Minerva's rise to power for the position of Minister. I cannot say that I am not impressed." I said looking it over.

She cast me another indescribable smile and then fixed her composure to one more serious and businesslike. I would be lying if I said that her presence wasn't irking me. Although I knew that having Cho Chang as my assistant would have been terribly horrible considering my defunct relationship with Jonathan, things have changed. One of which was my false engagement to Malfoy which at this point deserved all the publicity it could get. Maybe I should toy with the idea of having her here. As long as I was in control of the situation and what information she would give out, I would be playing her like a fiddle. No doubt that she would like to think she would be doing the same thing to me.

Lost in my thoughts, I could not help a lazy smile form on my lips. _Who would not like to actually be in control of their lives for once? …oh wait, my current situation left me with anything but control_. And I had to scowl myself. Bugger. I really hoped that Cho did not catch that. I was going for authority figure that commanded respect… not the looney twenty four year old woman who had a frazzled mind at the moment.

Snapping myself back to reality, I made a mental note for myself. I would reserve my biases and discuss her potential as an employee to me when I would speak with Minerva later this afternoon when she had a fifteen minute gap between all the things I had scheduled for her weeks before. Meanwhile, Cho and I discussed politics, where she thought the Ministry should be heading and I was somewhat pleased by our appointment. She no longer gave me those strange, unreadable smiles which calmed my nerves somewhat. With that she left, reserving one of those strange unreadable smiles for me and I contemplated throwing a book at her. Being around Harry and Ron all these years has finally made me succumb to daydreaming about violence.

Scrawling down some haphazard explanation of what had just occurred and what nearly led to a Monday morning meltdown, I made two separate notes for Ron and Harry who were probably respectably busy with their work schedules. Sighing to myself, I called to Eros, one of the Ministry owls to send my letters.

Stretching, I left my desk and made a bee line to the coffee shop across the street to refuel on my caffeine addiction. There, I bumped into Kieran Kraja who had wanted to come and meet with me upon his own request. He congratulated me on my engagement to Malfoy to which I tried very hard to not make a gagging face.

I ended up at the coffee shop for twenty minutes, discussing Kieran's application, his accomplishments. I tried very hard to not get sucked into his endearing American accent and he proved to be very intelligent and motivated. I had to admit to myself that I had a small attraction to the man. I mentally kicked myself; it hurt more than I bargained for because I almost walked into a floating sign cautioning a wet floor as I entered the Ministry. I am a woman and must say that he was blatantly attractive but considering my current predicament and fake engagement, these small biases were not to be taken considered during the hiring process.

Walking back to my office, I felt bad for originally plotting to make Cho my assistant for convenience's sake. I mentally scowled myself. Though, I think I might have said something aloud because Jackson Jacobson, one of Minerva's almost body-guard like aurors actually showed a sign of life by giving me the most confused and bewildered expression when I walked past him. _Note to self… no more question and answer sessions in my head, especially in public._

The rest of my day was uneventful. I had to situation to take care of in which a woman, Susana McCoy was hexed and had been stealing the wands of many of the locals in her sleepy little neighborhood. The reclaiming of the wands by their rightful owners had proved to be more challenging. I suspect a few of the locals believed they could 'upgrade' their wands by claiming another's wand as their own. This gave me both a headache and a need for another coffee run by the time I returned to my office.

Before the end of the day I had stepped into Minerva's office for a short chat about our remaining candidates. Upon entering her warmly lit office that had a large stack of scrawls and parchment neatly organized into several stacks, I found myself smiling brightly to her. Of all the people I have come to work with over the years at the Ministry, I have always felt myself closest to Minerva. She was like a maternal figure to me—at times stern, yes but very maternal.

"Hermione dear, have a seat." She said motioning me towards a comfortable pair of leather chairs in the corner by her fireplace.

"I wanted to personally congratulate you on your engagement," She said politely. Her smile was more of a reluctant grin. I could tell that she was worried.

"Thank you, Minerva. It…uh, I… well, Draco (I had to gulp to send the bile back down) proposed so suddenly. It has all been a whirlwind romance, (gulp again) really."

"Hermione, this is coming up rather fast. Do you not agree? It was not that long ago that the fiasco with Mr. Rowe took place. Then the problem with Malfoy as this 'lone guitarist' as you had penned him… the incident at the supermarket… What I am trying to say my dear is that this engagement has come rather fast. And I am indeed suspicious of it." She said her expression stern then worried.

"Minerva, I know… With all due respect, the matter is much more complex than it may seem to you. Malfoy and I are… well this is more of a business proposal. We are working on a case that is of utmost interest to both the Ministry and his company, Emerald Inc." I said.

_Well now, Hermione that isn't an outright lie is it? You are lying to the bloody Minister of Magic! Have you gone mad? Oh yes, perhaps I have._

But under a technicality, Jonathan's illegal activities could cost the Ministry, if he were ever to try to work for us… so, I can call it a half lie, I suppose. And the Ministry did believe that especially after the war, we should not things escalate like they did prior to the war. Who knows what else Jonathan Rowe is up to aside from smuggling money and his experimental hexes.

Minerva eyed me curiously before she spoke. I momentarily wondered if I had another question and answer session aloud again. Curse my frazzled mind!

"Well, if you feel that it is best… I suppose I can support your decision. Draco and I have formed a very open and diplomatic relationship as he has come to me for advice and particular permissions regarding his company and opening it up to the muggle market. I know that he has turned out to be a man much different than his father. I know it may not seem like it at first but Draco is determined to get out of his father's shadow." She said.

Attempting to hide my shock, I just nodded in agreement and murmured something that sounded like 'I know'. Was I really getting better at acting or were people feeling so sorry for me they just pretended to fall for my lies? Sigh. I suppose it is the latter.

We then turned our conversation around to our applicants. Minerva suggested taking Natalia Abelardo off the list. She was helpful as far as polyglot was concerned but there was nothing in her resume that Minerva felt cried 'superior'. I had to agree, we needed someone who could think fast and diffuse a situation as fast as possible. She was educated but not clever enough for this kind of job. I suggested we recommend her to The Department of Inter-Muggle Relations; she would be a shoe in there considering she grew up with in a muggle family like Harry. Her polyglot skills would be perfect there. Next off our list was Ivan Miller, though he was charming and good looking, Minerva did not think he fit the bill. She felt he was far too much concerned with his looks and charisma to get the job and not his intellect or sheer talent. He reminded me somewhat of Gilderoy Lockhart…I shuddered remembering my schoolgirl crush as a second year at Hogwarts. _Note to self: Minerva can be very critical when she needs to be. This can be helpful to any of my personal blunders in the near future._

That left us with two candidates and here is obviously where we could not agree on either one. She (like I suspected) was leaning more towards Cho Chang while I leaned more towards Kieran Kraja. Both were exceptional applicants and were more than just qualified for the position as my assistant. We finally came down to the conclusion that we would not come to a unanimous decision unless we saw them both at work and therefore could quantify both candidates' strengths and weaknesses.

Minerva suggested we do a test of trial and error. We would employ both Kieran and Cho for the approximation of a month and see how they both faired at the job. Minerva thought I'd have a lot on my hands anyway concerning my 'buisness venture' with my fake fiancée.

This only appeased me so much. I was not completely rid of Cho yet but I could attempt to see if I could use her… what was it Kieran had mentioned today about an American sitcom…? 'Gift for gab', was it? Yes... her 'gift for gab' towards my advantage in my engagement/personal hell-on-earth encapsulated in one Draco Malfoy.

The rest of my day was filled with loads of paperwork and I quickly realized it was nearing the time I had set with Malfoy to meet him outside of the Jazz Tavern. Realizing I had no time to go home and change, I walked out of the Ministry towards the apparating zone and ended up two blocks from the tavern. I walked close to it's perimeter but not too close, remembering the embarrassing scenario that had taken place a week beforehand. Had it only been a week? My mind was already spinning thinking of everything that had occurred since then.

It was then that I felt a cold hand on my cheek and a pair of cold lips finding entrance to my mouth that had sprung open from the shock. By now, the owner of said lips tasted my tongue—teeth grazing my lower lip and I had a flashback to that kiss this morning. Yes, this definitely was Malfoy kissing me. Though, I don't understand why I would believe it was anyone else considering the world believed I was engaged to the idiot. Why hadn't I pushed him away for assaulting me? It's not like I enjoyed it, though I must admit he is a fair kisser.

…_shut the hell up Hermione, you are literally beginning to lose it._

I assume he assaulted me because he wanted to let onlookers believe our engagement to be true. Muggle London was now parading around with Wizards, after the war came a consciousness about those we share a world with but know nothing of us. We will probably have to cover all our bases when out in public and always keep the façade up; it's hard to tell who's who anymore with wizards in muggle clothing. It seems that post-war life created a sort of fad amongst my kind, they wanted to explore the world the Muggles lived in without magic and how they coped so well without it. It's partly why companies like Emerald Inc. have thrived in the past few years, feeding that desire to blend muggle and magical culture.

My thoughts wandered to my fake fiancée. Perhaps, we would come out in one of those scandalous, poorly written magazines with the side of our faces making the front cover. Well… at least I looked somewhat decent today… Yes, only I would think such ludicrous things while being snogged by Draco Malfoy. But to be fair, I didn't enjoy it did I? I managed to think all these things before he let go and let me breathe.

"Hello Darling," He said as a pair of onlookers were stalling from walking into the Jazz Tavern and had matching perplexed looks on their faces. I could only manage a seemingly content smile.

He put his arm around my waist and guided me away from the Tavern and towards my flat. Where did he intend to have this conversation about what we were going to do? I waited till were alone on the street to hiss to him:

"Where the hell are we going? I thought we were going to discuss your 'drawn up proposal' and the like?"

"We're going back to my home." He whispered as he kissed the top of my head.

"That's ridiculous. I live right here, my flat may not be up to your standards but its closer." I fumed through a hiss.

"Your flat is no longer your flat. I took the liberty of moving your things into my home."

"YOU WHAT?" I couldn't help but bellow.

"Calm down Granger. We had agreed to that remember?"

"Well, yes but I thought I had some time! You know… wait until my lease was up at the end of the bloody month? Move my belongings myself. You didn't look through my undergarments did you!" I whispered angrily at him.

"I wouldn't have the time to move your things. I had my house elf, Ignatius move your stuff. Did you forget we can use magic and what takes your muggles ages takes us mere seconds? Besides, the sooner you are living in my home the more plausible it will seem." He whispered, tightening his hold on me when a creepy, drunken older man walked past us.

"Even if we are not legally committed to one another Granger, we have a commitment to follow through on. Jonathan Rowe, remember?"

"How am I supposed to move in with you when we haven't come to terms of this…agreement of ours?"

"That's why we're going to my home, where it's private to discuss things and not a public street way," he said in a bored tone.

"Fine," I mumbled. "What about my lease?" I croaked. Mrs. Fletcher was not the nicest person in the world. What would I do with myself when my ruse with Malfoy was up? I'd need a place of my own. Perhaps I could live with Ron or Harry until I got a place of my own… but they were so messy. I sighed outwardly.

"I also took care of it."

"I need a tall glass of red wine to process this," I groaned.

"You're wish is my command." He said as we apparated away from what was once my neighborhood.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Still undergoing some revisions but I think so far this gives more character depth aside from the lovely dose of humor and neuroses we see a lot with our favorite duo. I'm adapting it to add in _Deathly Hallows_ cause I'm quite certain it wasn't out yet when I started this little project of mine. A little known fact about me, although I live in the lovely USA I was actually abroad in London while reading _Order of the Phoenix_, I still kick myself for not buying a copy of the book while in Heathrow. It was great reading the book while there; it really gave me great perspective. And yes, I traveled to King's Cross and took a picture of Platform 9 ¾.

*Yes, I'm sorry I had to change one thing and you'll see the * when you find it. I cannot fathom a world where _ is without _. Because damn it, FAVORITE characters… And Hedwig too. Did you know she was named after a Saint? I had to do a project on St. Hedwig for class once…and yes, the whole time I thought of the snowy owl. ;)

_Chapter Eight:____The Gravity of Gravity_

With one of Malfoy's arms gripping my elbow while his other arm had snaked to the small of my back, I silently wondered if apparating really did take this long. Perhaps it felt so long to me because it was a form of personal torture. Part of me was still that little girl at Hogwarts who he incessantly called a MudbIood with his filthy words and blind hatred. I hissed silently and was glad I felt the thump of the ground beneath my boots and almost topped over but Malfoy's firm grip on my elbow kept me steady.

"There was a reason I was holding onto you. It certainly wasn't an excuse to touch you," he said guiding me through the darkness.

Oh yes, there's the wit I always loathed. My teenage self wanted to punch him in the nose and call him a git and a ferret but I stopped myself from doing so considering I was in his mercy until we got indoors. Then perhaps I could hex him. As much as I wanted to yell a dignified response but I needed to remind myself that I was as confused as Ron trying to work a muggle microwave. If I remember correctly he nearly blew up Harry's old one a few years ago. Despite myself I smiled at the memory in the inky black darkness, partly due to the memory and partly due to imagining hexing his bits off.

I registered that there was grass beneath me so we weren't _inside_ his home. I wondered why we hadn't apparated into his home instead of what I gathered was outside of it. I silently cursed as the thin heels of my boots kept getting caught in the moist grass, and I felt myself sinking in. At one point I almost lost my boot in the battle as the zipper was slightly undone. I also nearly lost my pride for I almost fell again but Malfoy had me upright in seconds. I was silently impressed; he still had the reflexes of a seeker. So did Harry. It was too bloody dark for me to figure out what the hell was going on.

Then the light bulb went off in my head… quite literally actually. Reaching for my wand in the inner pocket of my pea coat I muttered, " Lumo—" but was cut off by Malfoy's hand covering my mouth.

"What do you think you're doing?" He snapped angrily.

"I can't see my own hands, not to mention that my boots keep getting caught in the bloody grass and I nearly keep falling! I need to see Malfoy!" I huffed. At this point I would skip the glass of red wine and would like nothing more then to wake up from this nightmare.

"This room needs to stay dark. For a woman with brains you have poor coordination and eyesight, Granger."

I swear I think I heard a soft chuckle coming from him when he said this. Of course I couldn't see if this were true. Wait… he said 'room'… how could this be a room when everything suggested that we were outside? I was about to inquire this when I felt him smoothly pick me up and had me cradled to his chest as he walked faster through the darkness. Unbeknownst to me, my brain registered that he smelled of a combination of sandalwood, a hint of black pepper and some sort of mouthwatering musk I couldn't quite recognize.

It honestly took me a full five seconds to register that my feet were no longer on the ground and that my head was resting next to his chest breathing in that strange mixture. I'm sure my brain made a loud clicking noise at the aforementioned realization.

"PUT ME DOWN!" I nearly bellowed.

"I was beginning to worry when you hadn't protested. Surely you're not attracted to me, are you Granger?" He said in an irksome voice that was meant to sound husky.

"Let me put it this way Malfoy. I would rather suffer the kiss of a dementor then to even fathom some sort of attraction towards you."

"The feeling is mutual." He said putting me down.

I heard him pull out some keys and he unlocked what I realized was a door. Suddenly we were standing in a dimly lit hallway. He ushered me in and quickly locked the door behind him. Apparently we were in the house.

"Why have you imprisoned Mother Nature in a room inside your home?" I said taking off my boots that were knee-deep in wet dirt and grass.

Maybe I should carry a pair of trainers in my bag, I could always carry my beaded bag I charmed back during the war to fit a multitude of things—trainers, books, a pair of muggle boxing gloves to beat the snot out of infuriating men. The one next to me would do until I got a hold of Jonathan. I smiled deliciously at the image my mind conjured up.

"If you're paying any attention to me still, Granger let me know." He said lazily.

"I'm sorry, I was daydreaming about violence," I said happily

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "My company is working closely with a muggle environmental group that is looking to restore a more eco-friendly systemic natural habitat. Since muggle genetic engineering and nature takes years to create such a green atmosphere, we are attempting to fuse magic and science to better achieve this. It is still in the early stages and only seems to respond positively to growth in the darkness."

Malfoy… the philanthropist? I couldn't lie and say I was not shocked even if I forced my face to look composed. Yet, I chanted in my mind that it must be on some level of personal gain for himself. Perhaps a more wholesome image of Malfoy and his company… perhaps this was one of the secrets of his success. Of course I knew better. I tried to bring myself back to reality and engage in conversation.

"Then why the hell did we apparate through there?" I wondered, silently mourning for my boots.

"You clearly thought we were outside. If someone were to try to get inside my house by apparating they would think they were outside and would wander aimlessly through the dark and then would set off my magical alarm system." He said as if it were obvious.

"What if they would mutter the spell I almost used?" I said as he ushered me away from the door and down a cream colored corridor with an emerald green carpet.

"They would anger my flora and fauna."

I blanched and shook my head, "I don't think I want to know."

"Smart girl,"

"We're not in Malfoy Manor," I murmured after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"No. I actually sold the Manor; this is of my own creation. I didn't want to be associated with it after what happened… during the war." He cut off here.

Of course I would remember what he was talking about. I was there, in that very house. Tortured to the point of almost insanity, I carried that scar on my arm from Bellatrix with me everyday. I have since been able to use a salve that covers it to the untrained eye. Like Harry's scar it's something I carry with me forever. After the war, I let my best friend hold me as I cried trying to let go of that awful memory. Ron who was too distraught after losing his brother Percy, and he did not understand my self-pity, Harry who'd carried his for the majority of his life did. If I were in Malfoy's shoes I would be in the same position. I almost pitied him for having such a father. I didn't blame him for wanting to be rid of that place. I would too.

We walked along the corridor until he brought me to a staircase and we climbed two stories until we reached an even more elegant looking wing. There were six different doors, all with a mahogany finish to them. We reached one that was situated all the way on the other end of the corridor and he opened the door for me. I couldn't help but gasp at what I saw inside.

It was his study. Filled with an insurmountable amount of books on endless shelves I think I nearly drooled… I had only ever seen this many books at my days at Hogwarts and in my seven years there I know I made a dent in their catalog. I was almost sure I had read about eighty percent of the material except for the restricted section which was much harder to get my hands on. Sure, we had books at the Ministry but most of it was legal jargon, rules and regulations—dry material that your mind mentally separated from anything you would call leisure even for one Hermione Granger.

He motioned for me to sit down across from him at a huge wooden desk. There were several pieces of parchment neatly organized in some sort of order. I hadn't realized that there were two glasses of red wine in front of me; one I presumed was for me. I mentally noted that he kept his promise about the red wine. I waited for his next move. He pulled out three of the pile and looked to into my eyes unabashedly before he spoke.

"Granger, I feel that since our partnership is essentially based on a lie we must do all we can to keep up that lie. I propose that move forward with this fake engagement… let us start letting the world believe that we are truly together and plan to really be together. I propose to plan the wedding."

"I NEVER AGREED TO marrying _you_!" I started to bellow, then became a coward…squeaking the last two words.

"I never said we would get married, only that we would begin the planning to keep up the charade." He said calmly.

"So I don't have to marry you?"

"No but I think we should slowly start moving forward with plans to make this engagement seem real."

"To make it legitimate but to also give us time to build a case against Jonathan?" I said, my brain finally beginning to work against the shock it had taken earlier.

"Exactly," Malfoy said taking a sip of his wine.

"Okay… how does that require any sort of documentation or paperwork?" I asked, still confused.

"I need you to sign what muggles call a prenuptial agreement."

"Malfoy if I don't intend to marry you, I also don't intend to want your money,"

"I know that Granger but it's a part of the charade as well. Do you honestly think Draco Malfoy would marry without one?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

I gulped my red wine quickly, "No."

"Good. Moving along… I think I should meet your parents." He said pouring himself more wine.

"WHAT? ARE YOU MAD?" I shrieked.

"Granger, you can't possibly hide this from them, even if they are muggles. It will only make our arrangement look even more believable."

"I… YOU! My parents?"

I was fuming. Beyond fuming… tears started to form behind my eyes because I was so blind with fury that I wanted to hurt something… yes, as much as I wanted to hurt Malfoy I was much too invested in this scheme to do so… and I would never hurt a poor defenseless book. I did the next best thing… I gulped my wine and threw the glass against the wall in such a way that an award winning actor would be proud of.

His voice was eerily distant and monotonous as he muttered a spell that cleaned up the mess I had made. My ego was slightly deflated that he did not flinch at my performance. Perhaps we were getting too accustomed to each other… I shivered at the thought.

"At least you thought of not wasting the wine," he mused.

I stomped around the room trying to get my bearings. Aside from the whole "fake engagement", "your ex is a criminal" part of this melodrama that I called my life… I now needed to process the "I've been forcibly moved in with said fake fiancé" and "fake fiancé + fake wedding plans + fake fiancé meeting real-life parents". This quickly had turned into one of the most horrid days of my existence and I thought I had seen quite a few.

"When?" I whispered under my breath as I shut my eyes.

"Tomorrow night. I've made reservations at a quaint French restaurant and phoned your parents this afternoon. I have to say that I actually like the idea of muggle phones, it makes mail via owls quite useless in that way. Perhaps that should be a new business venture of mine…" A beat. "Oh yes, your parents don't know anything yet, just that you and I would like to take them out to dinner to announce your latest 'plans'."

"I suppose I should stop being surprised by the suddenness."

"I suppose so," He said handing me another glass of red wine.

After a few more glasses of wine I was less angry and more so elated by the warm comforting feeling of being drunk. Malfoy had me sign a few papers, which I double checked (even through my half-drunken hiccups) that stated all the aforementioned things we had previously discussed. I sloppily signed my name to them and I noticed that he put them in a safe behind a painting that looked to be older than Merlin.

I somewhat recall him carrying to my chambers to which I found a happy Crookshanks on an oversized couch that was meant to be his kitty bed. I'm sure Malfoy's staff had fed him some frou-frou cat food and the traitor was basking in the afterglow of his cat pampering. Muttering some unintelligible remarks about my cat being Judas I no longer smelled that aroma of sandalwood, pepper and musk. I fell asleep telling myself it had all been a dream.

I woke up refreshed, only to find a pale muscular arm securely encircling my waist and I realized I was wearing so much less fabric then I would ever dream of going to bed in. Slowly turning to see the owner of the arm I saw Malfoy, very much awake leaning in to kiss my clavicle when I woke up panting.

In the spur of the moment, I tried to untangle myself out of my bed sheets but instead came face to face with the floor quite literally. So this was the gravity of gravity… how painful and scaring it was. Now I would never go back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: This current chapter's title is taken from a song from Ashley Mendel, he's a musician who is (what I would consider) a friend of mine. It's off a line from one of his songs off his debut album 'Auto Reverse or Rewind'. The song's title is 'Let Me Know'…I'm done promoting Ashe and his album now. :] But if you're interested in taking a listen, look him up on facebook or on i-tunes. This one has taken me a while to write due to things that have come up in my life as of late. Enjoy! :] **Edit: I've uploaded a spell-checked version of Chapter Nine, it's not new just up to good (I hope) grammatical standards. **

_Chapter Nine: Playing Grown Up_

Attempting to untangle myself from my luxuriously soft bed sheets and the floor that seemed to be moving underneath me, I felt serge of pain all over my body. I realized I had awoken my cat that had let out a loud shriek. This caused me to place my hands on my ears… the sound was magnified within my sensitive ears. The light was also too damn bright. Was the bloody sun just floating outside my bedroom window? Picking up the pieces from the occurrences from my previous day I realized two things and they were the following:

- I, Hermione Granger was battling a hangover for the first time since my first Christmas at Ron's house after we were legally allowed to consume alcohol.

- I dreamt about my fake-fiancé in ways I really should not… said fake fiancé was also meeting my parents tonight. This was NOT good for me at all.

Perhaps, I would be lucky and suddenly drop dead from all this stress in my life as of late. I only wonder how ridiculously high my blood pressure must be. Trying to free myself from my satiny soft prison, I saw a pair of men's leather shoes. These were then followed by trousers that were most likely Italian. I really didn't need to guess who the rest of the body belonged to and groaned once again.

"I heard a thump and then your cat sounded as if it were about to die… so naturally I wanted to see what had happened for myself." He said chuckling, trying to give me a hand.

"I'm sure my demise would only be set you back by a few months until you find another poor girl to pose as your fiancé."

"You don't take hangovers well, Granger. I wonder if this was your first."

"No, it wasn't!" I huffed, wincing at the pain in my temples.

He chuckled darkly and then had another pensive look on his face. I seemed to have no reservations; crankiness from a hangover didn't leave me with much room for inhibitions it seemed.

"Don't ponder so much, perhaps your brain will explode." I said getting up, I surveyed my surroundings. I was still in last night's clothes. "…in fact Malfoy, for my own benefit… go on and continue to strain your brain."

He ignored my comment, "You are not a morning person as it seems. I think you need some caffeine in you."

He muttered a spell and the godly aroma of coffee filled the room. I took it and sipped on it lovingly while looking for my cell phone. He noticed my frantic search around the room and just watched me in what seemed to be his own sick amusement.

"I've already called Minerva. I told her you need the day off considering your move last night." He said offhandedly as I rummaged through my coat pockets.

"You what?"

"Granger, you are in no mood to be at work right now. You have two assistants, remember? I'm sure they'll look after whatever it is that you do well enough for the rest of the day. Need I remind you that you're still smashed from last night?"

Accepting my defeat with a sigh, I only muttered. "Thank you, I suppose."

"You must really not feel well to not even try to argue with me. Or are you going soft?"

"Lower your voice, for the love of Merlin?" I begged.

I dropped into the closest armchair—a leather, chocolate brown thing that I sank into. Pulling my legs up and lowering my head to drown out his repulsive but strong voice along with the overbearing sunlight were my priorities. My sensitive and acute ears heard him softly walk across the room and call for his man, Fredrick. Malfoy whispered something to him and gently closed the door. Staying firmly in this position I had placed myself in, I felt his arms wrap around me and gently plop me on the bed.

Opening my eyes, I realized the room was completely dark, sans a dimly lit lap on my night table. He must have closed the curtains for me. Whatever it was that caused this kind of pity or kindness from him left me audibly confused and mute.

Fredrick came back with a full breakfast with enough carbohydrates and greasiness to both sober me up and keep my stomach content. There was also another steaming cup of coffee. I thanked my lucky stars I had more caffeine. I thanked Fredrick wholeheartedly and Malfoy attempted to keep a straight face.

Malfoy laid the tray on the bed and I looked at him curiously trying to hide the suspicion behind said curiosity. I don't think I did a good job of hiding it though. To be fair, we were at school together for seven years… perhaps he had picked up some observations of my character. More than I would like him too.

"Normally I'm used to your witty remarks and neurotic behavior but I can't have you complaining of the constant pain you feel all day. Neither of us will be very productive if you do that." He plopped onto the armchair I had previously called my resting place. I nodded and munched on my food quietly wondering why he decided to watch me eat. I found it slightly eerie, to be quite honest.

"How exactly am I to be productive when I'm not going to work today?" I asked sipping on my cup of life.

"Well, I must apparate to work in half an hour but I will pick you up in the afternoon. We are in need of getting you some decent attire to dinner with your parents tonight." He said.

"Please don't remind me of that…" I said putting my hands over my face.

"Don't be a child, Granger. Things will go over smoothly. I will take care of everything. You just worry about looking as convincing as possible to your parents. I swear I won't think of mentioning anything remotely offensive." He said trying to ease my fears.

"Well… I don't need clothes. I have my own." I said chewing on a slice of bread.

"You are my fiancé now…and even if it is just for show, I would like the woman that the world thinks that I am going to marry is just as sophisticated as myself," He said smugly.

I just rolled my eyes in protest. I wasn't about to let his stupidity get in the way of my caffeinated bliss. Once I was done, he leaned in to pick up the tray and I got a whiff of his scent… sandalwood, that unidentifiable musk and black pepper. It brought me back to my murky dream that was the cause and effect of my waking up on the floor not too long ago.

My eyes were the size of saucers, my body automatically responded in what I feared was lust and I automatically stiffened. I prayed that he wouldn't notice but the mischievous look on his face told me otherwise. Damn him for being able to read my body language!

"What's wrong Granger?"

"Nothing, I remembered I left an important document at work. I should actually be taking a look at it now…" I lied.

"But you're not going in today." He was clearly amused at my squirming.

"You can never get enough work done," I said getting up.

"Well Malfoy, thank you for the breakfast and the pity but I can take care of myself from this point on. I'm sure you have to be headed to work and I should shower and pick up that file…" I said frantically looking for my toiletries, towel and clothing to run into the safety of the bathroom.

"If you wish," He said towering over me, moving his body closer to mine and I squirmed in protest.

"GO-TO-WORK!" I bellowed shoving him away from me and retreating into the bathroom.

I swear I heard his laughs from the other side of the bathroom door once I was safely inside.

___

The shower was just as relaxing as I needed it to be. Especially because there was no Malfoy involved during the time, I was safe it my watery cocoon. I was free to chastise my body for its involuntary response. I couldn't really blame myself all that much I reasoned…for one it had been a long, long time since I had any sort of romantic involvement with a man. My body only reacted the way it would. It didn't know the difference between Malfoy and a very good looking male specimen. In any case my dream was probably no where nearly connected to my subconscious as any muggle therapist would say. It was only the case of a drunken induced dream where I reason that someone tends to dream of the last thing they remember. The last thing I remember was being in Malfoy's study drinking wine so it all makes logical sense. I needed to tell myself it made logical sense.

After my shower I felt much better… until I remembered that Malfoy would be meeting with my parents. I quickly changed into a sweater, a pair of jeans and trainers and apparated into Ron's flat. I heard his distant snores coming from his bedroom and decided it was high time he should wake up.

"RONALD WEASLEY! Wake up!" I said opening his room door.

I saw Ron snoring with his bed sheet wrapped around him…nothing new there; he had lately taken to sleep in only his pajama bottoms as of late. Sleeping shirtless, regardless the weather. What I failed to notice that there was a ginger haired female lying next to him, both staring at me with bewildered, shocked but sleepy eyes. I shrieked and apparated back to my bedroom.

My cell phone rang in one of the inner pockets of my jacket. That's where it was. I saw Ron's name on the caller ID. It was the only muggle contraption that Ron had learned to use.

"MIONE, HAVEN'T YOU LEARNED TO CALL!!?! IT'S WHY YOU GOT ME TO USE A CELLAR PHONE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he said. I imagined him turning all kinds of red at the moment.

"Cellular phone, Ron. Not cellar phone. And I'm sorry… I just really needed to talk in person…I'm no longer living in my flat anymore and I would like to speak to you and Harry face to face…" I said babbling.

"Mione… let me actually wake up properly and I will give you a call back, alright? I'm sorry for shouting." He said.

"Of course, Ron. You were in the right," I said sheepishly.

I met at the Leaky Cauldron with Ron and Harry during their respective and similar lunch breaks. I explained the whole fiasco to them. I wasn't sure how they would react to it… I reasoned that it could be anger or laughter but I never expected both from them.

"You can call me crazy all you want Mione but I think Malfoy fancies you." Harry said taking a gulp of his beverage.

"She hasn't called you crazy yet but I will… You're crazy, mate." Ron said shaking his head in disgust and worry. "Too many blows to the head, eh Potter?"

"I have to agree with Ron. I don't think he fancies me, just likes to make my life miserable at all costs." I said shaking my head fuming.

"He essentially brought you breakfast in bed, didn't torture you when he could have, carried you more than once when it wasn't really necessary and wants to meet your parents tonight… I think he has underlying interests that have not been addressed to you." Harry said wisely.

"When did you turn into our local Dumbledore?" I asked darkly. Harry chuckled.

"…I don't want to talk about this anymore. Ask Ron who the Ginger haired girl was from last night?" I said winking and paying for our pitcher. I was supposed to meet Malfoy in ten minutes to look at dresses for tonight.

"Ron… you Manticore, you." Harry teased maliciously as I left the table promising the boys I would have dinner with them over the weekend sans Malfoy.

____

I met Malfoy at an apparating zone not far from a couture and posh boutique that was no where near my normal price range for any sort of clothing. To keep up appearances he placed a chaste kiss on my lips and led me into the insanely beautiful store.

"Zora, this is my fiancé Hermione," He told one of the gorgeous, leggy women who worked there. "I need you to find her something formal for dinner with her parents. But I don't want her to look like a spinster either. Subtly sexy…"

He said this with a smile playing on his lips and she nodded knowingly.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy, I think we can find something to accommodate what you're looking for." she said seriously.

She was dragging me into a back room to gather my measurements, and drowning out my protests with an ice cold stare. I think her stare scared me just as much as Voldemort's. Whenever I would begin to open up my mouth she slowly made her eyes meet mine and intimidated me with her icy blue-grey orbs. Afterwards, she grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the dresses on display and instead into a dark store room that was filled with seemed like hundreds of dresses. This didn't move me, sure—thousands of books in Malfoy's study could make me drool but this had no such effect on me.

Throwing at least fifteen dresses my way she pulled me back into the dressing room and ordered me to change. I wondered if models felt this way but then again they actually enjoyed this. Squeezing myself into a short, dark blue number I felt much too scandalous and much too exposed. She practically threw me out of the dressing room once she adjusted the dress a little and threw me towards Malfoy. He gave her an approving nod but hesitated and said something quickly to her in Italian. It sounded something like, "sexy but not appropriate" and I was whisked away once again. After five more dresses, he actually smiled at a classic black number that fit me both snugly but comfortably.

Making our way back to his home, I found myself putting on make up and fixing my hair while trying to calm my nerves. This was going to be an interesting night… my parents, Malfoy and myself. This was sure to be an interesting evening. Maybe I would call Harry and Ron and keep them on standby in case my father wanted to punch my fake fiancé in the face. But perhaps my two best friends would not restrain him as I would like… or would supposedly care to like.

I heard a knock at my door and opened it, I wasn't surprised to find Malfoy… already dressed and looking like he walked out an ad for men's suits. I, on the other hand was no where near in comparison. I held my breath for longer than necessary.

"It will be fine, Hermione."

"You're calling me by my name?" I asked incredulously, taking one last look at my reflection in the mirror before slipping my coat on.

"I'm practicing for when I meet your parents," He glared.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not accustomed—wait, why am I apologizing? Well whatever the case, I apologize for my nerves… Draco. " I said.

"Come, we don't want to be late to the restaurant," He said putting his hand on the small of my back.

When we arrived my parents were already seated expecting us. They looked at me with equally puzzled expressions. They had heard about Jonathan and the looks on their faces said they were both concerned but didn't buy this… they must think it was much too soon for me to be in another serious relationship. I gave Draco, I mean…Malfoy a knowing look.

"Hello, mum—dad… I want you to meet my fiancé… Draco Malfoy," I said nervously.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N:_ Without more hesitation on my part… Chapter 10! (Uploaded a spellchecked version of Chapter 9, it's not new!) Again, I don't own these characters (Ms. Rowling does) but I do own the interesting predicaments that they tend to get themselves into. Yet, I do not own any amusement or interest that you take in them. ;] I just hope you do 'cause it means I've done my job right. Like always, any comments/criticism or concerns are welcome.

-Jeline.

_Chapter Ten:__ The Opposite of Sanity_

"_Hello, mum—dad… I want you to meet my fiancé… Draco Malfoy," I said nervously. _

After actually saying that particular sentence aloud (one which I recited many times over throughout the day), I felt that it was hard to function. I could not breathe, let alone move. Draco… uh, Malfoy who had his hand on the small of my back began to rub soothing circles to bring me back to life. Unfortunately for me, considering the dream I had that very morning; it was eliciting another type of response. I was able to finally inhale and gripped my hand on the plush seat in front of me that was empty.

Looking at my parents reactions didn't surprise me but it didn't ease my nerves either. My parents' reactions were still in utter shock… I knew that it would take a few minutes for them to register. Draco ushered me into my seat and was about to sit closest to my father. I gave him a knowing look and I think he actually lost the color in his face (was there ever any?). He wisely sat next to my mother instead.

"Hermione dear, would you care to explain the aforementioned statement?" My mother asked, somewhat embarrassed.

"Yes, well—mum, dad... as you know, I had been previously been in a relationship with Jonathan but that did not work out for various reasons. I know you may think that I'm vulnerable and perhaps this relationship is moving much too fast but Draco and I are not perfect strangers… we met back in Hogwarts." I began.

It seems that he and I had never really discussed what exactly we would tell my parents. I did not want to lie to the two people who had raised me and taught me better. I silently gulped and attempted not think of the knots in my stomach. Instead, he chimed in to finish for me.

"As your beautiful daughter has mentioned, we initially met at Hogwarts. We were in different houses then, we considered each other rivals. But a mere few weeks ago I ran into Hermione at a Jazz Tavern where I play from time to time. After running into her, I asked her to a cup of coffee to reminisce over our adventures at school and we had come to realize that we had many things in common."

At this point he grasped my hand and leaned in to kiss my cheek. The same scent of sandalwood, black pepper and the mystery musk (as I have now dubbed it) permeated my senses and I felt a cloudy, relaxed sensation. How had it come to soothe me when mere hours before it caused an involuntary bodily response from me? I chanted a few simple spells in my head to keep me focused and NOT think about my dream this morning.

Draco made a motion to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear and turned to stare at me with an all-too- convincing lovingly gaze that would make any actor proud.

Glancing from the side I could see my father's lip twitch. He was not very pleased by all this. He was clearly worried about the wellbeing of his only daughter, the wizarding prodigy and sole brainiac of the Granger line. Malfoy would really have to work hard if he wanted to win the Grangers over, especially one Mr. Timothy Granger—dentist and overprotective father.

"What is it about him that makes you so certain?" My father asked.

The origins of what I was about to say next are still a mystery to me: "Unlike Jonathan… I know that Draco truly cares about my wellbeing. He is rather selfless and is undeniably patient with me. You both know how headstrong I can be, how much I throw myself into my work. Draco provides me with a balance that rivals Ron and Harry. He really allows me to experience life more. True, there are moments that he drives me mad but I am sure that I would be mad without him."

Thankfully at this point the waiter came and brought with him a beautiful bottle of wine before another line of questioning from the parental police. I was never so happy to see alcohol in my life. In retrospect, the aforementioned comment will only suggest that I am some kind of addict. It seems that agreeing to be Malfoy's fiancé also meant that I would pick up a few vices along the way. I should have seen it coming.

Draco poured the lovely red liquid and I eyed the glass and he handed it to me with a small chuckle—he kissed my cheek lightly. I ignored it and concentrated on how much longer I'd have to endure this hell.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I assure you that I am only interested in your daughter's wellbeing. She has lived her life attempting to take care of others and never allowing anyone to take care of her. I intend to take care of her for a change. I know she may not be fond of the idea at times—but I know that it is what she needs and deserves. I hope to do this for the rest of our days together."

I received an almost genuine smile and he kissed my hand tenderly. My god, even I almost believed him! My dream flooded back into my consciousness and I almost forgot how to breathe. Put yourself together Hermione!

My father began his line of questioning once again and I sat in uncomfortable silence watching Malfoy easily answer all my father's questions like a pro. He gave my parents a very PG-like synopsis of his life story—even mentioning his efforts to be the foil of his father in every way. He talked about his company and how he has always wanted to prove that although he had been given such a privileged life, he wanted to forge his own path.

I kept up my façade of the loving gaze of an enamored woman but inside I was both a nervous wreck and a guilty child. I couldn't help like I deserved a punishment for such a large lie, as if I should be put in a corner or punished by my parents. I may be a grown woman but the tinge of Granger guilt and consciousness crept in. What we were doing was not morally right… and yet again, I needed to remember that what Jonathan did to me was not morally right either.

At the end of the night, I had three—no four glasses of wine but was no where near inebriated as I was last night. Draco muttered a quick sobriety spell after my second glass to prohibit the alcohol from having such an effect on me. I realized by the fourth glass that my father's lip stopped twitched and they were actually laughing at some joke he had told. I had stopped being so guarded at this point and decided that if I was going to hell—might as well make sure I did as the most superior actress that I was.

At a random slow song, I exclaimed that it was my favorite song and demanded that my fiancé dance with me. He was actually reluctant at first but conceded my wishes and ushered me towards the corner of the dance floor where there was more privacy. It was within sight of our table but far enough that you could not make out our conversation.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're an alcoholic Granger." He whispered into my ear.

"The guilt that comes from lying can do many things to a woman… namely make her drink one too many glasses of wine. –But to be fair, you chose an amazing wine." I said putting my head on his shoulder.

The room started spinning slightly and he tightened his hold on me.

"You and I are not necessarily lying. We are partners…perhaps in not the conventional way that your parents would like to think but we are working together to bring Jonathan Rowe down. You are living in my home now and I did not lie to them about seeing that you are taken care of for a change. You will be; I will give you the closure you need from your wasted time with Jonathan. I will make sure you have everything you need while you are my 'partner'."

"Well Draco, if that's the tale you want to spin…"

The room started getting even more blurry and I clutched onto him even more muttering his name into his ear. I detected a shiver coming from him and he whispered to a waiter nearby to inform my parents he would take me to get some fresh air. Putting his hand on the small of my back, he ushered me outside.

"I thought that sobriety spell would do the trick but it seems you really are a lightweight with your alcohol content." He said.

"I didn't eat much before starting on the wine," I said as I leaned my back into the cool surface of the brick building.

He pulled out his wand and muttered, "Paullinin Cupana" and a steaming mug of coffee appeared in his hand. He handed this to me and I sipped quietly on the godlike beverage. I started feeling a little better but decided to finish its contents first.

"I haven't decided which you like more…alcohol or caffeine," He said smirking.

"The latter," I said taking another sip, moaning slightly as I closed my eyes at the scent of its heavenly aroma.

"You make it seem as if it is an out of body experience," He said. I swear his voice wasn't that husky prior to that.

I decided to pretend I had not heard that in his voice but I cannot deny that the sound of it made my knees buckle slightly. "Not many things in this life allow us that luxury,"

"I can think of a few…" he said, his voice nearly made me melt. He stepped closer to me, his eyes scanning my body and features.

"Perhaps we should go inside, it's rather cold out here," I mumbled.

I tried to stumble forwards towards the door but he stopped me. Gently tugging my waist back to the confines of the brick wall, I felt the cold surface of the brick against my back again. I involuntarily shivered.

I tried very, very hard not to look at his face but rather his left shoulder. I knew if I looked up at him it would probably be at his lips and I'd want to devour them. I had already kissed this man before but I made myself think of puppies, Voldemort and Ron and Harry in matching chicken costumes when they had lost a dare a few months after we graduated Hogwarts. I had never allowed myself to think that I actually _desired_ to kiss him.

To be fair, I was a woman who hadn't had any intimacy with a man and hadn't realized how much I yearned for it until that damn dream. Perhaps it was my crazed hormones or the alcohol but Draco Malfoy didn't look half bad in the moonlight. You can even say he is painfully handsome to look at—despite the egotistical annoying nature of his. Yes, good…remember that Hermione—annoying prat who made school miserable, who can hold a tune and is an exceptionally good dancer…no!! Damn you psychology!

My one fatal mistake was to actually look up at him… He lowered his head and trailed his nose against my collar bone, then came back up and kissed the corner of my mouth and I desperately tried not to moan—I failed miserably. He parted my lips open with a flick of his tongue and in a flash of a millisecond his arms were wrapped around me and I swear my lips burned. We stood there, exploring each other's mouths for about thirty seconds when the alarm in my mind suddenly went off. **CODE RED! CODE RED!**

I pushed him away gently and looked down at my painfully beautiful high heels.

"My parents," I said and he nodded and ushered me back inside, this time not touching the small of my back.

After another half hour of trying to win over my parents—might I add he did rather well, we bid them goodbye. We promised to stop by for dinner at their house a week from today. We walked out of the restaurant towards the apparating zone in perfect silence. I didn't think we should address what had happened just less than an hour ago. It had become a perfect little mantra in my head: 'Don't talk about it. Don't talk about it.'

"You know we should probably talk about that little display outside of the restaurant not too long ago," he said.

DAMN! He talked about it.

"We can just say it was a momentary lapse of judgment, couldn't we?" I asked.

He wrapped his arms around my waist securely as he apparated us back to his home. We walked out of the dark room full of flaura and fauna. I closed my eyes as we entered the warm and lit hallway.

"You think it was a momentary lapse of judgment, Granger?" He asked angrily.

"No," I gulped. "I think… I think that you are a man and I am a woman… the biological urge took over. It's simple human nature that can supply us with an explanation." I said.

At this point he walked me to my door. "You don't think it can be so much more than that?" He asked. He actually looked like he had a pained expression in his eyes.

Don't fall for it Hermione, it's a bluff. He's trying to use psychology.

"I don't know," I said looking at my shoes once again.

He opened my room door and pulled me inside the dark room. He began kissing me hungrily and another bloody moan escaped me. Damn my inability to control my body! We stood there for a few minutes and he trailed his hands along my body and my hands buried themselves into his hair and I unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt. Throwing me on the bed he began to kiss me hungrily and my eyes fluttered shut.

In two seconds he was off me and off the bed walking towards the door.

"Think about that tonight Granger…" He smirked. "Was there so much more than a biological urge?"

With that he closed the door behind him and I let out a cry of frustration. I would need a very, very cold shower before going to sleep. I best not have another one of those damn dreams. This whole affair was turning out to be the opposite of sanity.


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:**__ Since it's right around all those lovely winter Holidays, if you want a funny untraditional-Christmas song, I suggest "Don't Shoot Me Santa" by The Killers. It was actually done for Project RED in '07 and some proceeds went to charity. The video was directed by Matthew Gray Gubler who plays Spencer Reid on "Criminal Minds". I dig his work and how he views the media of film but that's a different story. _

_Anywho…_

_In __order to write this chapter, I did a complete run through of what I have so far. I have a few concerns… 1. Hermione's voice which has become less proper with the latter chapters. 2. I must spend more time on her adventures at the Ministry and unraveling the mystery that is Jonathan Rowe. I would love any feedback on any of the aforementioned concerns and anything else you'd like to throw out there. As always, I do not own. Feedback would be as amazing as signed copy of Joseph Heller's "Catch-22". Thanks!_

_-Jeline._

_Chapter 11: Another Word for __Empathy _

Waking up the following morning, I found myself angry and confused. Not only did I have to endure that fiasco last night but due to the shower I had to take to calm my nerves—I was now left with insanely unruly hair during the daylight hours. Trying to tame that mess nearly made me late for work. I dodged Malfoy by skipping breakfast altogether and leaving the house. Once at a safe enough distance, I was able to perform a simple teleportation spell I had learned years ago.

Minerva was waiting for me in my office, giving me a quick run through of yesterday's events. It seems that she separated both Chang and Kraja to split my cases in half and each tend to them—without much formal training from my part I was afraid to see how much more work I would have for myself.

It turns out that each of my assistants was able to rise up to the occasion and deal with their particular cases. Kieran, for example was sent to Oxford where a pair of elves were up to no good, harassing the university students. He was able to defuse the situation quite nicely, offering to buy the pair a round of butter beer if they composed their behavior. He confessed to Minerva that he reasoned that they had been bored and were in need of amusement or attention and were actually quite harmless.

Cho, on the other hand was sent to Heathrow Airport where a group of sea monkeys had decided that they would create a new habitat out of many of the terminal toilets. She attempted to reason with them and finally found a great compromise. She created their own mini-pond on the outskirts of a remote town just west from where she grew up, knowing they would have peace and privacy. It was a brilliant approach, I must confess.

I was undeniably impressed with their tactics and levels of diplomacy. Granted, these were not generally tactics I employed when I had to deal with these particular cases but these were relatively easy. Calling them both into my office, I decided to give them a crash course in their jobs, of what it entailed and the types of situations they could potentially see themselves in. I tried to prepare them for situations they may see themselves in repeatedly. (We do get the same cases over periods of time, often enough.) After about fifteen minutes into my monologue, Kieran asked a particularly interesting question:

"Ms. Granger, have you ever come across a situation that was extremely dangerous and required immediate action from the Ministry?"

I thought for a moment before I spoke, choosing my words carefully. "To be honest with you Kieran, I have been in some particularly dangerous situations before. Yet, I would like to think that my training and past experiences have taught me how to control such a situation. What it really comes down to, I think, is learning to trust your instincts."

I did not need to tell them of a particular experience that put me in quite a perilous situation and was the cause of a still visible scar on my forearm. It had come to the point where people were just too polite to ask about it, or they had probably heard a rumor. Either one of these scenarios though was probably very far from the truth of how it came to be both a mark and a scar that I will probably carry with me forever. Shaking off the vivid memory, I gave them both a winning smile and continued on with my ramblings.

We had quite an interesting case to tend to. We received an owl about a possible leviathan gone astray from its group who was causing chaos along the English Channel. The particularly interesting part about it was that many witnesses claimed that it looked eerily like Voldermort's own pet. After calming down the crowd with the help of both of my assistants we were able to asses the situation. I actually had to call Harry to use his services since he was still quite fluent in parseltongue although he thought he had lost it when Voldemort was defeated.

Cho's demeanor had changed significantly with his arrival. I swear on Merlin, I saw her flip her hair and stifle a giggle when he came to stand beside her. He was only asking me about the situation. The few times she had run into him since Hogwarts she still seemed to have fancied my best friend. I caught her eyeing him as he and I spoke a few yards away from her and Kieran. Harry was either too dense to notice or just did not care…I wasn't sure which it was at this particular point.

Upon arriving back at the Ministry, I let my assistants handle the paperwork. Harry's team was on a small hiatus for the time being so he offered to take me out to lunch. I think the fact that he had not invited my assistants deflated Cho's ego quite a bit but Harry offered to bring them something from our destination which they politely declined. I knew my best friend strategically did this because he wanted to inquire about the Malfoy and Granger dinner fiasco.

We settled on a quaint Japanese restaurant that he had wanted to try. I noticed him eyeing me curiously. I knew Harry; he was quite perceptive when he wanted to be. I gather this was one of those times. He did not even give me time to even taste my miso soup when the interrogation began: "Well, do I have to put a truth hex on you or will you tell me on your own?"

"I don't think I even know what you're referring to," I said, trying to get some food in me before he started his spitfire round of questioning.

"Don't play coy with me Hermione; you know it doesn't work on me."

Looking round to see our surroundings I realized that I now had to be careful. Anyone could overhear our conversation and relay it back to the _Daily Prophet_. My fake engagement would be known to the world. Remembering the one thing I always carried in my purse in case any such important conversations should take place, I placed the pink quartz in the middle of the table. Whispering the incantation, there was a faint glow and I knew the perimeter around our table was sound proof.

Harry raised an eyebrow but did not question me. I knew that expression, he was seriously wondering how much of Malfoy's obsessive distrusting qualities had rubbed off on me. I gave him a warm smile and he rolled his eyes at me. I decided it would be best if I started off indifferent because I was indifferent about the whole mess, wasn't I?

"It was an interesting experience. The git bought me a new dress for the damn thing. It was hard for him to win over my parents at first…especially my father but he actually didn't do that bad…for a Malfoy." I said, trying to stay away from the messy details from the night before.

"You're hiding something," He mused.

"It's nothing; I can't wait until this whole mess is over, really. Now that I have two assistants I can work on uncovering all the dirt on Jonathan. The faster the insanity is done with, the faster I can go back to my life before Draco and Jonathan."

"You called him by his first name. Something's changed… hasn't it?"

Damn his amazing observational skills! "It's not important." I croaked.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"Not now… maybe later." I reasoned with both him and myself.

Another twenty minutes into our meal and I got Harry to talk about his life. I felt sorry for having my life take the forefront of the conversations these days. He told me about the girl he has been seeing for the past several weeks, Julie Logan. He was explaining to me how they had first met a few years ago on one of his first assignments in Sussex as an auror and how much he really fancied her. I squeezed his hand, an encouraging gesture for him to tell me more when we were rudely interrupted. The pink quartz in the middle of the table crumbled into pulverized dust before our eyes. I looked up meeting a set of angry steel gray eyes.

Yes, there was Draco… in a furry no less, hovering over our table. My hand was still over Harry's and I realized to an outsider this would look very bad. There was nothing for me to feel guilty about…This was one of my best friends since first year. He was like a brother to me. Malfoy and I were not in any sort of relationship aside from our 'partnership' to bring down Jonathan. This whole mess is not conducive to my already slipping sanity.

Looking at Harry, I could see his mind racing and he had deduced (very well, I might add) what was going on and what might happen. He calmly stood up and pulled my hand slightly to do the same. Protectively placing himself in front of me, he said the following:

"I don't give a damn how you're feeling right now, Malfoy. And I really don't give a damn about what you may or may not do to Rowe once this is over but this is one of my best friends. I know that she can hold her own but I will do everything in my power to make sure no harm comes to her. It is in your best interest to calm down before I have to take you down by force." He said in an eerily even tone.

Draco took a deep breath and turned his heel, walking out of the restaurant. I had to blink a few times before fully registering what had happened. I was prepared for many things… I was used to their testosterone driven thoughts so naturally, I assumed there was to be a wizarding duel, a fist fight, a broom race—something! This, I was no where near ready for.

"How did you do that?" I asked astounded.

"I can be intimidating, I suppose." He said sitting back down to finish our meal.

"Yes, but it's Malfoy we're talking about. He never backs down, never."

"Maybe he's grown up a bit since we left Hogwarts," Harry said nonchalantly while he asked for the check.

"What—why? What do _you_ know?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Nothing, Hermione... Come on, we should get you back to work." He said ushering me out the door.

Harry was acting uncharacteristically odd. We got back to the Ministry and he insisted upon coming back with me and 'hanging out for a bit' with me in my office as I got some work done. At least I could rest in knowing that he didn't fancy Cho back but was rather interested in his new romance with Julie. Walking into my office, I realized there was a freshly brewed cup of coffee on my desk. I wasn't sure which of my two assistants had resorted to try playing teacher's pet. As I about to grab it, Harry pulled out his wand and the cup flew off the desk, hitting the wall and then into my nearby trashcan. I looked at him angrily. There was never a good reason to discard a perfectly good cup of coffee!

"What did you do that for?"

He motioned for me to come over and look at the contents in my trashcan. From the impact of the contents of it, you could see a gooey green liquid that was at the bottom of the already broken mug of coffee. Needless to say, the shock on my face was evidently clear.

"How did you know? More importantly, what is it and what the hell was it doing in my coffee?"

"Haluco-wax, I've seen this stuff used on some very powerful wizards. Permanently sends you to St. Mungo's. People hallucinate all kinds of crazy things, comes to the point where their hallucinations drive them so mad they die from heart attacks."

"Why the hell would someone want to send me to St. Mungo's and/or eventually kill me?"

"I'd say someone's upset about your recent engagement," he said darkly.

"Well that seems to be quite obvious."

"I think it's safe to say I'm staying with you for the rest of the day." Harry said sitting on a small sofa I had at the opposite side of my desk.

Suddenly, a dark thought crossed my mind… No, it wasn't possible. He wasn't capable of it? Was he? My face blanched, I looked at my best friend and involuntarily squeaked. His unbelievably calm demeanor was not helping my current situation.

"Calm down, Malfoy is not responsible for this. He may be many things but a murder he is not. Sit down, I'll be back—I'll go get the Minster."

Deciding that wasting time was not something Hermione Granger invested in, I dove into the closest file on my desk. This was not working at all because I believe I had reread the same paragraph at least four times by the time Harry and Minerva had returned. She rushed to hug me, and then went to examine the contents inside my trashcan. She and Harry were completely silent but just gave each other knowing looks.

For once—okay, not necessarily once, I felt completely out of the loop and it both frustrated and terrified me. What were they keeping from me? Before I could start the all knowing list of reasons I should be informed at once of what the hell was going on, Minerva raised her wand and said a spell—oddly enough it was all in Greek. Latin, I understood like conversational Spanish…as for Greek, my skills were lacking.

Apparently my analytical mind was much too busy with the linguistics of her particular spell and I didn't realize that we were now in Malfoy's study/library. Ah, it must have been an ancient transportation spell. She must have used it to avoid detection; I sensed she must have learned it from Dumbledore. I always secretly believed they were each other's (I would think) platonic soul mate.

I was now resting in an emerald armchair beside Minerva while Harry paced around the room pensively. Fredrick showed up at the door and handed us all some tea and informed us that Malfoy was on his way. I couldn't help but eye the tea suspiciously but then drank it once Harry gave me an approving nod.

I was trying to work this all out in my head. Jonathan Rowe, my ex-fiancé was a criminal—that I had come to accept. I was now the fake-fiancé of one of my enemies at Hogwarts… I was now mildly attracted to said fiancé; only physically I'd hope—not completely accepted but almost there. Someone was either trying to have me committed or slowly kill me—not accepted in the slightest. Alright Hermione, think rationally…

Only four individuals outside of said parties involved in fake engagement that were at least somewhat in the loop: Harry, Ron, Minerva and obviously Fredrick. This left us a slew of individuals including Jonathan Rowe as possible suspects responsible for the coffee Haluci-hex fiasco a few minutes ago. I must also include my two seemingly hard working assistants…any crazy ex-boyfriends, possibly Draco's exes from his own (disgusting, I imagine) escapades. I must also factor in any ex-school mates at Hogwarts or anyone in the Ministry who had access to my office. Any individuals involved in any ex-cases of mine… In other words, anyone in the wizarding world who I may or may not have had any contact with in my lifetime. This was giving me a headache of epic proportions.

The door swung open loudly and Malfoy walked in fuming. Swearing in French, he looked over to Harry and Minerva. I knew Harry had picked up several languages over the years as an Auror, he was rather skilled linguistically and so was Minerva. They all spoke rapidly to each other and I could only catch bits and pieces of it, especially when my name was constantly being thrown around. I think the next project I should pick up is learning another language…

Only I would think about something like this at a time where my life is perhaps in some kind of peril. Whatever keeps me relatively sane, I suppose. I stopped looking at the spot on the wall where I had thrown my empty glass of wine only a few days before. Was it only a few days ago that my life had significantly changed from entirely dull to something from a plot off a television series?

Now eyeing Malfoy curiously, I read his body language since it was all I could study for now. His eyes were the color of titanium… angry, cold but there was some underlying worry in them. There were bags under his eyes that I had not noticed during his little tirade at the restaurant earlier. His posture was stiff and his shoulders hunched over slightly, as if almost a protective crouch. His words were directed at Harry who was still under that same calm demeanor that still irked me. Minerva was the levelheaded one who had a crease of worry on her forehead, and noticeable frown but would interject between the two men. Finally, she had enough and stood up glaring at them both.

"Gentlemen, stop pointing fingers at one another—at least, she is safe thanks to the both of you." She said loudly.

Both men backed away from each other. Harry came to sit atop the arm of my armchair while Draco rested on the edge of his desk.

"The question is what do we do now?" Harry asked, for the first time I saw a little fear cross his face.

"Mr. Potter—I suggest you go find Mr. Weasley. He also must be informed of the situation." Minerva said diplomatically. He did as he was as instructed and left the room.

Minerva spoke again, "I think it best that I go back to the Ministry. They will think it strange if I am gone for too long and we must have everyone believing that there is no alarm or cause for worry." She said standing up to go.

"Don't worry dear," She said cupping my chin motherly, "You are in the best care and we will make sure that whoever was responsible will deal with the consequences."

With that she walked out of the room as well, leaving me alone with Draco. I knew that letting my anger get the best of me would not rectify the situation, so I tried a different approach in order to obtain some sort of information.

"Please, just tell me what's going on. I can rationalize and accept whatever information is given to me but it is much worse to not know and suspect so many horrible things," I said softly.

"It's better that you don't know." He said looking at the same dent in the wall from my glass-throwing fit a few nights earlier.

"What do the three of you know that I don't? Why was Harry so calm? How did he know? Why did he make you leave the restaurant earlier? What are the two of you hiding from me? …You want me to trust you Draco, at least for the sake of our partnership—well, earn it won't you?"

He flinched slightly when I used his first name. I had hit a nerve in his psyche, I wasn't sure exactly what it was but at least I had gotten his attention.

I blinked and there he was kneeling beside me, his nose practically touching the tip of mine. I didn't have time to react because as soon as I exhaled his lips crashed into mine. There was a fervor to him that was different from all the other times he had kissed me. I could not identify it.

I then realized something… He was trying to distract me physically in order to cloud my mind and my thought process. It would not work. Deciding to use his own tactic against him, I moaned and broke the kiss to nip his ear. The initial shock was evident because I felt him shiver. What I had not anticipated was my own hazy mind as he shoved one hand in my hair and another one making lazy circles on an exposed part of my lower back as he pulled my body closer to his. This was not working…think of puppies, Ron in a bunny suit—Voldemort…

"Stop," I said shoving him aside gently. "Tell me," I ordered.

"Tell her," Harry said walking into the study with Ron beside him. Ron's face went from shock, anger, worry and downright nausea. Harry's was both empathetic but determined and evidently not surprised by the display he had just witnessed.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning…" Draco said.


	12. Chapter 12

Hello all! I'd like to start out with a heap load of apologies. I did not give up on this faithful story; I actually had first gotten writer's block with this chapter. Then the glorious gods of writing allowed me to get at least three quarters of it done and then—my computer died. And not only that, I rewrote it again (twice) from memory and it died again. My PC's been through hell and back since I last posted. I even went as far as trying to get my nephew to crack open (physically, yes) my old travel drive to see if he could pull out the file (I thought I may have saved it there). Sadly, it was not to be. So here I am, a year and a half later trying to peace my memory together and decided to hell with it! It's just quite sad for me because out of the bits and pieces I remember, my plot bunny was quite intricate. This new plot follows the old one only about 7.2% of its original content but I'm quite pleased with it thus far. Oh well, here goes. This chapter is for all of you.

-Love and Rockets,

J.

Chapter Twelve: Mountainous Lies and Truthful Cliffs

It was dark outside and the curtains billowed lightly through the cold air. I decided I needed the cold to remind me of my mortality. Being part of the wizarding world gives one the air of power and seeming immunity to the many dangers that lurk around. Looking at my cell phone I realized it was exactly three hours and twelve minutes since my confrontation with Draco, Harry and Ron in the study. It all went down fairly quickly and I have enough information in my mind I wasn't sure I could compartmentalize everything fast enough. I honestly feared for a moment that I may just spontaneously combust from information overload. Absentmindedly stroking my cat, I paused and thought it would be best to turn the lights off and just lie in the dark. I really didn't want anyone to think I was awake; all I wanted now was to be alone with my thoughts even though I knew this wasn't really possible. I really wasn't alone now, was I?

Perhaps I should rehash the events for you before throwing you into any confusing plot loops. You see, quite a number of startling bits of information were given to me tonight that all I really wanted was to hide in my bed, under the blankets and cry quietly.

…_Malfoy was pacing around the room now and Ron still looked a little green from the embrace he caught us in earlier. Harry's temper was starting to flare and he finally said something after five minutes of Malfoy's incessant pacing and constantly chanting: "I have to say this right." _

"_Malfoy, you twat just get on with it and bloody tell her already. Ron needs to know what's going on too and the sooner we address this and get on with it, the sooner we can end it." Harry said. _

_He'd taken off his glasses and muttering a spell, they were now clean and spotless. Oh yes, my best friend was agitated and deeply worried. He must not want to tell me either, is it that bad? I wondered. Or does he just fear telling me? Whatever it is, I knew both Ron and I would not sit here a moment longer listening to those two bicker and not inform us of what the hell was going on. At least in the underworld one knows what they're signing up for…doom, lots and lots of doom. _

"_Yes, Potter I know." He sighed, a beat and started talking again, keeping his eyes resolutely on mine and ignoring Ron's repulsed fish face. "The truth is that when I started investigating Rowe while he was still under my employment I sought out Potter to look into his life. I needed things to be done quietly and considering you were dating the bastard it was easy for Potter to be included in his life. He already was thanks to you." _

"_Well 'Mione the cat's out of the bag so to speak. I didn't want you to know that I sometimes take investigative jobs when business for Aurors is slow." Harry said shrugging._

"_I shouldn't be so surprised, Harry. We're both subsequent workaholics, are we not?" I mumbled looking at the wall again._

"_I suppose," He said lamely. _

"_What's this got to do with all you've told me about Harry? What's this got to do with someone trying to hurt Hermione?" Ron asked. He was sitting on a chair opposite of Malfoy, eyeing him suspiciously while Harry leaned against Malfoy's desk. Draco mimicked Harry's move from earlier and sat on the arm of my emerald armchair. _

"_I never really liked the imbecile," Harry began. "And when Malfoy brought up his suspicions of Jonathan I thought it would be good for me to look into. It turns out we've learned more quite recently since you're…faux engagement. It seemed to trigger Jonathan to be messy, sporadic even." _

"_You see," Draco began. "We uncovered that Rowe was not highly skilled enough as a wizard to take out so much funds from my company's accounts. He must have had help, we never suspected of him having accomplices but rather working for a much larger network. Someone who wants to see my company fail and possibly profit from the amount of money that was stolen from me."_

"_At first we thought it was a corporate move by one of Mafloy's business rivals," Harry said._

_Draco interjected, "But then we realized that no company within the public or private sector would want to do that. The ministry has gotten very strict upon any paperwork or records they get from mass profitable companies. Ever since You-Know-Who and Minerva came to power as a new Minister of Magic it has been about respectability. The ministry will go to great lengths to make sure a wizarding company is legitimate by their standards." _

_Lovely…business ethics 101. I shouldn't be surprised. Leave it to Malfoy and Harry to prolong an explanation to the most basic components possible. Have they forgotten my IQ was still highly higher than theirs or did they forget what we got on our O.W.L.S. during our formidable years at Hogwarts?_

"_Can you two get to the bloody point?" Ron said shaking his head in annoyance. Point for Ronny-kins! _

"_Yes, Ron…the point is," Harry paused for dramatic effect. Good to know my best friend still had a sense of humor. "That we know it isn't a rival business which means there's another threat that the Ministry has not heard of or only suspects but knows little to nothing about." _

"_I think Jonathan Rowe works for my father," Malfoy blurted out._

_I actually laughed. Yes, I laughed. Perhaps it was some sort of post traumatic stress or perhaps I really was starting to go mad. It doesn't come to a surprise that it did not sit well with all parties involved. Ron's face was one of disbelief crossed with the need to hurl and Harry ran a hand through his unkempt hair, there were signs of a five o'clock shadow starting to form on his face. His smile lines visible, it made him look older than 23. Draco's face was the most startling of all, his cool calm demeanor was gone and instead was the face of a terrified child. I never was sure who he disliked and feared more—his father or Voldemort. In this particular instance I had to say perhaps it was his father. And I never disliked his father more than I did right now._

"_But your father's locked away in Azkaban. Not only does he have dementors watching his every move but he's in a highly secured area locked down with spells that Minerva and I both personally cast every six months to ensure his solitude and inability to use magic." I said in disbelief._

_Harry looked at Ron and replied, "There's always a loophole to every system, 'Mione."_

"_So you think your father was behind the __Haluco-wax this afternoon?" I asked._

"_Yes," Both men responded in unison._

"_Alright, let's say I buy your crazed theory. You think your father wants to get rid of my sanity or kill me just because I was engaged to Jonathan and am now engaged to you therefore possibly threatening whatever evil plans he is concocting? Or is it because in his eyes you're now engaged to an abomination because of my ancestry?" _

_My muggle-blood ancestry was a thing of the past after You-Know-Who's downfall. The ministry made certain that its wizards were tolerant and those who were once followers of Voldemort were punished. We had hoped that it would change the minds of the ultra-conservative wizarding families like Malfoy who were forced to change, at least on the outside. They preached of tolerance and a new wave of change but we never really knew what they thought on the inside. It was something out of our hands, really. We could just hope that future generations would wipe the slate clean after all the tragic death and atrocities that happened after that epic fight. I was grateful for having my life and the lives of my best friends. We had lost so much but hoped we'd gained so much more._

_If possible, Malfoy actually blanched. I didn't think his pale skin would get any whiter but somehow he almost looked clear—transparent even. "I, we… we had not anticipated my father being involved in any of this until, well, as Potter put it Rowe started to get messy. And if you want me to be perfectly honest, I believe he is after you for both of those reasons and possibly a third." _

_I nodded my head profusely trying to piece everything together. Not only was someone out to get me, it was my fake fiancée's father. Just peachy. On top of it, he probably had someone working for him on the inside aside from Jonathan. I'm sure anyone who knew me for more than ten minutes could tell you about my love affair with coffee. That just meant that there were still many more closet pure-blood freaks out there who wanted those like me dead. Just bloody perfect! Why the hell did I agree to this fake engagement in the first place?_

"_Look Hermione," Draco began, well at least he used my first name. "If I would have had any indication that my father was behind this I would have never made YOU that offer in the first place and you'd be free of this mess but I don't think we can take it back now, it will put you in more danger." _

_Ron finally spoke up, it seemed something clicked in his head and he knew he had to share it. "You two have to continue with the engagement. I'd even dare say you may possibly have to get married, at least for a short amount of time to give you some sort of leverage. I'm just speculating here but I reckon that if Lucius has any possible inclination that you two aren't the real deal that he'll figure out that this was a scheme to try to get information about Rowe and that'll put you in even more danger. If he thinks that you two actually… (gulp) feel something for each other then you're still a threat but not as much." _

_Harry spoke up, "I have to agree with Ron on this one. I think you two need to make it look more convincing and need to spend a lot more time around each other. To those who know you best, we can see through your façade. You have to be able to even fool us if you want to fool Malfoy's father. You two actually going through with the marriage would actually cement it. It would give you both some sort of leverage. Malfoy will look like the tolerant new age wizard giving him power in the community and more backing with the ministry."_

_I couldn't believe what my best friends were now saying. I had to continue this fake engagement and possibly now go through with an even fake wedding even though it was possibly putting my life in peril. On top of it all I had to spend even MORE time with Draco, wait now…possibly spend more time than we had both possibly anticipated because we'd probably have to get bloody married. Admit it now while you still can, Granger. The man has an effect on you, you've kissed him out of your own free will and there's an attraction there that you cannot deny. I was attracted to my childhood enemy and now I had to call him my equal, my comrade on so many levels. Let's not even start with possibly having to call him my husband? Oh my… I just may go mad without that damn Haluco-wax's help after all. _

_When this was all said and done perhaps I'd take some time off work. Only the gods knew how long this mess will take to sort out. I'm sure I've acquired enough vacation time at the ministry by then to have an extended paid vacation. Maybe take a muggle cruise through the Caribbean. That sounded nice…maybe I would spend some time meditating in a Buddhist temple in Tibet, anything outside of this fiasco. Really! Since when did I let men rule my life and since when did Hermione Granger back out of danger. I'd been in worse scrapes than this as a teenager and as an adult. I had the scar on my arm to prove it! I needed to do more research. On Jonathan, on Lucius Malfoy….on spells. I needed to research magical prenuptial agreements! Oh dear gods this was giving me a headache of epic proportions. I needed a glass of wine._

And now here I am, it is past midnight and Minerva owled me to take the rest of the week off, my minions—err assistants would look after my work for the next week. My cat is now sleeping in its own fluffy cat bed and the light of my personal bathroom is still on and the cold air is hitting my skin like icy pricks. I have since lost the urge to cry and am now flabbergasted at how quick my mind is trying to formulate plans to make sure I can get through this whole fiasco alive. I did not mean to drag my best friends into this but they had assured me that they would have done it regardless. That doesn't make me feel any better, to be quite honest. It's reassuring to know that after a decade of getting into mischief together they're still around, either to cause more trouble or save the say. Where the hell would I be without them?

The light turns off in the bathroom reminding me that I am not the only human occupying the room tonight. Malfoy steps out in pajama bottoms, totally shirtless and shivers when he realizes that I've left the window open. He crosses the room to close it and slips into the bed next to me. He must have thought me to be asleep already and he possessively encircles his arms around my waist and scoots my body closer to his. I hold in a yelp because his body is cold against my back. Instead my body betrays me and I cannot help but shiver from the cold contact. Clearly the fabric from my t-shirt is not enough to encapsulate enough warmth.

This is the lovely part I've held out from my summarization of the aforementioned night. You see, I didn't want to discuss the _arrangement _that we had come to. It was all Harry's idea really and for the first time Ron had seriously agreed to the idea of Mafloy and I being together for a prolonged period of time. It was already stated that we needed to spend time together but we were persuaded (some more easily than others) that we need to start acting like a couple of adults. This meant sharing a room together, meals—we needed to learn the small intricacies and this would help us immensely. I drew the line at actually sleeping together although my best friends looked at me like they barely believed I'd hold onto my own oath for more than two seconds. I was not a floozy!

So here I am, sharing a room, a bed and even body heat with Draco Malfoy. If you would have told me these things three months ago I would have blatantly told you you'd gone bat shit crazy. Then again you would probably have to tell me that my life, my sanity and possibly those I cared about would be in jeopardy in order for me to not call St. Mungo's on you. As sleep began to take its hold on me I felt Draco snuggle in closer and I actually sighed at the contact. There's no use lying about my attraction for the man but it doesn't mean I'll act on impulse and jump his bloody bones. At least, I hope not. As I drift off into dreamland, I think I hear and feel him pull back my hair and rest his head in the crook of my neck whispering, "G'night love."

That night I dreamt of what our wedding day would look like, we decided to get married on a large mountain and looking down I could see jagged cliffs. In the front row between Ron and Harry sat Lucius Malfoy with a malicious grin that I could clearly see behind my intricate veil. Dumbledore was conducting the ceremony and he offered me one of his wise and reverend smiles and his eyes told me everything would be all right.


End file.
